


This War of Needs

by N1ghtWr1ter, RaeDMagdon



Series: This War Of Needs [1]
Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alpha Lexa, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha/Omega, Alternate Timeline, Blow Jobs, Breeding, Bunker Sex, Canon Setting, Close Quarters, F/F, Femslash, Fingering, G!P, G!p Lexa, Knotting, Lexa's Dick, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Omega Clarke, Omega Verse, Omegaverse, Oral Sex, Pregnancy Kink, Sexual Tension, also a whole lot of sin, ranya, season 1 AU, there will eventually be a plot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-02
Updated: 2017-05-25
Packaged: 2018-05-24 06:48:04
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 24
Words: 151,858
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6145074
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/N1ghtWr1ter/pseuds/N1ghtWr1ter, https://archiveofourown.org/users/RaeDMagdon/pseuds/RaeDMagdon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>All Clarke Griffin wants is to stop a war (and maybe get through her heat without suffering too much). All Commander Lexa wants is to protect her people (and maybe forget the tragic death of her mate for a few days). When a sudden burst of acid fog leaves them stranded together in an isolated bunker, the two of them will have to find a way to deal with each other—and with their very inconvenient desires.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Yup. So, this is omegaverse, and it's gonna be full of sin. You have been warned! It's going to be kinda long, and there will be a cohesive plot, even after the smut starts (which it takes a few chapters to get to). But dear lord, there is a lot of smut...
> 
> Enjoy! Oh. And please follow me (Rae) @raedmagdon and my coauthor Cal @n1ghtwr1ter on tumblr. I'm a very active femslash writer, and I post lots of Clexa stuff.
> 
> [](http://s558.photobucket.com/user/calfaolan/media/green78%20-%20twon%20cover_zpskkb485uj.jpg.html)  
> 

Clarke hooked a finger through the collar of her jacket, peeling it back to try and get some air across her flushed skin. Even though the morning breeze had teeth, her shirt had already started clinging to the small of her back. She had been hiking through the forest with Finn for most of the night, and though she had seen no evidence of Bellamy and the others during their trek to the meeting place, the tingling shivers that coursed down her spine told her that someone was watching.

_Someone. I just hope it’s him and not the Grounders._

She still wasn’t sure what to make of Finn’s plan for peace. Like most of his ideas, it seemed great in theory, but too neat and simple to work the way he hoped. The Grounders had already shown that they wouldn’t hesitate to kill. This meeting could very well be a trap, and despite what she had promised, she wasn’t going to take any chances.

“How much further?” she asked, walking close by Finn's side so her voice wouldn’t carry. Their footfalls already sounded unnaturally loud over the crunching leaves that coated the forest floor.

Finn forced a smile, but she caught a shadow of worry in his dark eyes. He was afraid, even if he didn’t want to admit it. “Not far. A couple more minutes.”

It was a frustratingly vague answer, but Clarke didn’t press him, wary of being drawn into a longer conversation. Although Finn had made it clear that he still had romantic feelings for her, their not-relationship was the least important thing on her mind. _If this meeting falls apart, we could all wind up dead. Or worse._ She remembered all too well what Bellamy and his lackeys had done to their Grounder captive in an effort to get him to talk—what she had done to save Finn’s life. _If we’re capable of doing something like that to our prisoners, what sick things do they do to theirs?_

Her stomach churned at the possibilities. It hadn’t escaped her notice that Octavia, the only other omega besides her who had come to earth on the dropship, was the only person the Grounders hadn’t killed on sight. _Maybe that’s what they do to their enemies. Kill off the alphas and betas and bring the omegas back to their camp for…_ She shook her head. That wasn’t going to happen, not to her and not to anyone else. The Grounders were vicious, but her people had guns. If Finn’s optimism proved to be misplaced, they had a solid back-up plan.

“Clarke!”

Finn’s harsh whisper startled her from her thoughts, and she saw him point past a gap in the trees. If she squinted, she could just make out a figure beyond the branches, pacing back and forth on what looked like an overgrown bridge. Whoever it was hadn’t noticed them yet, but Clarke crouched down instinctively, trying to remain out of sight.

“No, it’s okay,” Finn said. He reached for her elbow, pulling her forward. “We’re expecting her.”

Clarke sighed, but she reclaimed her arm and followed him to where the treeline thinned out. Her nostrils flared, inhaling a familiar scent, and her eyes widened when she noticed that the figure on the bridge was wearing a jacket similar to hers. _Octavia._ Finn’s eagerness to establish peace with the Grounders suddenly made a lot more sense.

Octavia noticed them a moment later. She lifted her head, stopping in the middle of the bridge and turning in their direction. There was no use hiding. Clarke pushed ahead of Finn, stepping warily out of the cover of the forest and onto the bridge. There didn’t appear to be anyone else waiting for them, but the seemingly-empty trees around them had come alive with enemies before. She couldn’t be too careful.

“So, that’s how you set this up,” she said as Finn came to a stop by her side. She didn’t spare him a glance, keeping her eyes fixed on Octavia instead. “You helped him escape, didn’t you?”

“I trust him, Clarke,” Octavia said, a mulish expression that Clarke had grown unfortunately familiar with closing over her face. Clarke opened her mouth to deliver a sharp retort, but something made her words stick in her throat. She narrowed her eyes, observing Octavia more closely, and several more pieces snapped into place.

This wasn’t the same Octavia she’d last seen bolting from the camp after an epic fight with Bellamy. The other omega was still pacing and agitated, but the heat-smell that had wafted from her in dizzying waves, driving everyone in the camp crazy with the urge to fight or mate, was almost gone. Not enough time had passed for it to disappear on its own, and there was only one other explanation. Clarke raised her head and sniffed; what she smelled nearly made her jaw drop.

She couldn’t believe it, didn’t want to believe that one of their own had betrayed them so spectacularly, but everything she could see and smell was telling her that it was true. The dimness of Octavia’s heat, the way she had her jacket zipped all the way up to her chin, and the hard line of her jaw confirmed it. “You _mated_ with one of them?”

Octavia’s lip curled in a silent snarl. “And so what if I did?”

“Did you forgot that the Grounders have been trying to wipe us out since the _minute_ we landed down here?” Clarke said furiously. “That they put a spear through Jasper’s chest?” Her eyes widened as her previous conjecture rose to her mind again, making fear coil through her gut. “Oh my god, Octavia. Did they _make_ you—”

“Lincoln would never do that! Listen, Clarke, you don’t know anything about what they’re really like. You have to trust me.”

“ _Trust_ you?” Trust was the furthest thing from Clarke’s reeling mind. She knew that mating could change someone’s behavior, sometimes drastically, creating loyalties where they weren’t deserved. God, Bellamy was going to _kill_ the Grounder who had mated his sister. Suddenly the trail of breadcrumbs she’d been leaving for him to follow didn’t seem like the best idea.

Octavia’s jaw jutted out even further. She looked like she was spoiling for a fight, and Clarke couldn’t pretend like she wasn’t inclined to give her one, what with everything that had been happening over the last few days. But before things between them could come to a head, another chilly breeze blew across the river. The cool relief it brought to Clarke’s overheated skin was only momentary, because it also carried a scent that made her shiver.

_Alphas. A lot of them, and they're close._

Finn noticed a split second after she did. “Someone’s coming,” he muttered, jerking his chin toward the other side of the bridge.

Clarke hadn’t needed him to point. The smell of dark, damp earth and fresh sweat was impossible to ignore. It sent another shiver pulsing down her spine, but this one spread out further, pooling low in her belly. Her clothes suddenly felt constricting, and the unwashed fabric chafed against her sensitive skin even more than usual. _Grounders. It has to be. I can’t even see them, and they smell twice as strong as any of us._

She just wished she knew whether the Grounders were coming to talk, or to finish the killing spree they had started.

After a few silent seconds, a tall figure finally broke past the treeline on the other side of the bridge. He approached cautiously, but when he caught sight of them, he fell into a jog, arms swinging at his sides. Clarke didn’t recognize him at first from a distance, but judging by the sharp intake of breath beside her, Octavia did. She started running too, and the two of them met in the middle of the bridge, throwing themselves into a tight embrace. Clarke watched in awkward silence, completely unsure how to respond. Octavia and the Grounder were already behaving like a mated pair, clinging to each other desperately.

A soft rustling sound from the woods behind her made her glance back, muscles tensing in case she needed to run. The sight of a dark jacket-sleeve and the muted glint of something metallic made her relax. _Bellamy and the others. Good. At least we’re not in this alone._

Octavia’s Grounder hadn’t come alone, either. The thick, stinging scent in Clarke’s nose grew stronger, and she gasped as she caught sight of more movement across the river. A rhythmic clatter echoed the uneven jolt of her heartbeat, and when she saw the source of the noise, her eyes widened. “Oh my god. Horses!” She had heard about creatures like this, seen a few pictures, but it was nothing compared to the reality. Their sleek bodies coursed over the ground like water, and the figures astride their broad backs rolled with their movements.

She shook herself, trying to concentrate. There were three Grounders total, at least that she could see—all alphas, and all heavily armed. Her eyes couldn’t pick up much about them from a distance, but she could _smell_ them, and that was more than enough to send her reeling. Together they made the air thick, and she couldn’t breathe without drinking them in, their smell clogging her throat.

Her shoulders stiffened and her chest squeezed with instinctive fear, but it did nothing to stop the hot lance of desire that stabbed straight between her legs. _Get a grip, Clarke,_ she told herself, trying not to tremble. _They’re Grounders. These people want to kill you._

Beside her, Finn bristled. “Hey,” he said, moving to stand between her and Octavia’s Grounder. “We said no weapons!”

The Grounder gave Finn a dark look. “I was told there wouldn’t be.”

“It’s too late now,” Clarke said. She straightened, preparing to step forward.

A panicked expression crossed Finn’s face. He reached for her arm, but Octavia’s warrior held up a hand to keep them separated. “Wait. She goes alone.”

Finn started to protest, but Clarke shook her head, silently willing him to listen. _I can do this. I have to do this. At least if everything blows up in our faces, I’ll be the only one near enough to get hurt._ She pulled away before he or anyone else could protest, focusing on keeping her strides slow and measured and her focus fixed tightly on the Grounders waiting for her. Two remained on their horses, but one dismounted with sinuous grace and began to approach, matching her step for step.

As they neared each other, Clarke began to make out details. The alpha’s movements were more of a prowl than anything, and though she was slender, strength was obvious in her lithe frame. Dark streaks of warpaint surrounded her eyes, and her wild hair was woven through with intricate braids that kept it out of her face. The breeze blew again, and Clarke nearly stopped dead in her tracks. She had thought the primal scent of alpha was overwhelming before, but as the Grounder drew closer, she knew she had found its source.

_This is their leader. She has to be._

They stopped by unspoken mutual agreement at the center of the bridge, just within arm's reach. The alpha kept her head high, her bearing regal, and her eyes fixed on Clarke's, her face dark and inscrutable beneath the paint. It struck Clarke that while she'd dealt easily enough with the alphas back at camp, she had absolutely no idea what she was dealing with here.

The alpha lifted her head and sniffed almost imperceptibly, and Clarke swallowed a growl as the piercing green gaze darkened with something like knowledge. _I guess some things don't change._ But if the Grounder had anything to say about her status as an omega, she didn't let on. "Your name is Clarke?"

She nodded to cover her surprise at the surprisingly pleasant cadence of the alpha's voice. "Yes."

"I am Lexa. I am the Commander of the Twelve Clans, including the Trikru, on whose land you trespass."

After hesitating for a moment, Clarke stuck her hand out for the Grounder to shake, but the alpha just looked at her outstretched arm until she curled her fingers and withdrew it, trying not to blush at the awkwardness. She also didn't care to think about the slight pinch of disappointment she felt that Lexa hadn't touched her.

"I think we got off to a rough start, but we want to find a way to live together in peace." Clarke tried to focus on keeping her tone earnest, but it was hard to concentrate on anything while the swirling cloud of alpha pheromones blanketed her. It made her simultaneously want to step back and clear her head, and step closer to breathe that intoxicating scent in deep. She knew it should be pissing her off—alphas did this on purpose, to keep those around them off balance—but this wasn't harsh or obnoxious, only sharp and powerful.

A slight quirk of the alpha's eyebrow warned her that her voice had trailed off, and this time she couldn't hold back a blush. _Shit, Griffin. Be careful._

This was _not_ good.

***

"I understand," Lexa said, tilting her head to consider the girl from the sky. She hadn't quite been sure what to expect, although Anya's scouts had delivered fairly detailed reports. This leader of the Skaikru—Clarke—was undeniably an omega, but she displayed none of the fear or submissiveness one might expect. "You started a war you don’t know how to end." She was gratified to see shock on the girl’s face, but it was quickly replaced with frustration.

"What? No! We didn't start anything. You attacked us for no reason!"

Lexa was torn between wanting to laugh and snarl. Anya’s reports had been right. The arrogance and foolishness of the Sky People knew no bounds. Taking a step forward, she crowded into Clarke's space, allowing a hint of command to creep into her voice and letting her natural dominance do the rest. "I hope you do not expect me to believe that entering my territory without permission and burning one of my villages to the ground with your missiles does not constitute provocation."

Confusion muddled the Sky girl's face for a moment, but soon cleared. _Good_ , Lexa thought. _At least their leader's not stupid._ She also couldn't deny that Clarke was good to look at, her curves flaring under her clothing in appealing ways, her hair the color of afternoon sunlight, and her eyes bluer than Lexa had ever seen...

She blinked. _Enough of this,_ she told herself sharply. _She is an enemy leader, and her people have stooped to treachery before._

"Those were just flares! We meant them as a signal for our families, to show them where we were. We had no idea—"

Clarke's words were cut off by a high growl, and Lexa jumped a bit. She'd been so caught up in the omega's presence that she hadn't noticed Indra dismounting from her horse and storming over. "You are invaders," the general spat, lips drawn back over her teeth. "Your ship landed in our territory, and now you have the arrogance to make excuses for the lives your people took."

"What? No!" Clarke's eyes widened in surprise, and her expression flickered with caution, but Lexa was impressed despite herself. The _Skayon_ showed no signs of backing down despite Indra's dominant stance and the fury rolling off her in waves. "We didn’t know anyone was here. We thought the ground was uninhabited..."

Indra jerked her head toward Lincoln, but her burning stare remained fixed on Clarke's face. “You knew we were here when you sent an armed raiding party to capture one of us and torture him. These are all acts of war.”

Lexa had to admit that Indra had a point. She had been informed of the warrior's injuries in great detail by Anya, who had disagreed with her decision to attend the negotiations herself. However, such rudeness would not stand. She knew that Indra was only trying to defend her, but _Heda_ did not need others to fight her battles. " _Indra."_ She let her scent flare, broadening her stance and staring down her nose. _"Shof op. Disha hukop laik ain sad klin."_

Indra's blunt lips twitched, but only for a moment. After only a few seconds of hard, unblinking eye contact, she lowered her head the slightest bit, offering her obedience. " _Sha, Heda. Ba osir nou na wich em in."_

"What did she just say?"

Lexa turned her head back slowly, surprised by Clarke's boldness. The question was an impertinent one, but something about it amused her instead of raising her hackles, despite the seriousness of their situation. _Or perhaps something else about her amuses you._

"Indra says she does not trust you." She took a moment to study Clarke once more, trying and failing to keep her attention from lingering in inappropriate places. "And she has good reason not to. It was not her place to speak, but you have offered us no explanations or apologies for the crimes she listed. If this is the way your people behave in a land that is not theirs, why should we allow you to remain?"

"I see your point," Clarke said. “That’s why we need to put an end to all of this.”

Lexa nodded, but rather than respond, she found herself briefly captivated by the way the omega's pulse point fluttered, unmarked, at the base of her throat. She blinked to clear some of the haze clouding her head, but it was already too late. Her pants had grown considerably tighter at the front. She clenched her teeth against the urge to trace the faded white scar beneath the collar of her coat.

_What are you thinking? You are the leader of your people, here to make these strangers answer for the village they destroyed, not some pathetic pup entering her first rut. Your chance was taken from you, and you have a higher purpose. Calm your body and focus your mind until they are back under your control._

“Anya," she called, turning slightly to glance over her shoulder while keeping Clarke in the corner of her eye. _"Komba raun."_ Anya approached more cautiously than Indra had, although she held herself just as tall. She was wise enough to remain a few yards back, and Lexa wondered privately whether her former mentor shared her discomfort. Clarke's pull was unlike anything she had felt before, and when it wasn't enticing, it was actually intimidating. "Your warrior, Lincoln. What was his report to you?"

Anya's eyes shifted over to Clarke. She folded her arms across her chest, her narrowed gaze distrustful. "He said your omega told him that there are more of you coming down. Warriors.”

Clarke nodded. “The guard, yes," she admitted, "but also farmers, doctors, engineers. We can help each other, but not if we’re at war.”

The suggestion gave Lexa pause. If the Sky People could prove useful instead of dangerous, there might be a chance for peace after all. "Can you promise that these new arrivals won’t attack us? That you will respect the terms you and I agree on?”

Clarke hesitated, chewing her lip. “I promise I will do everything I can to convince them to honor the terms that we set,” she said at last, not quite able to meet Lexa’s eyes.

Indra and Anya both let out furious snarls, and Lexa had to stop herself from issuing one of her own - though she could not quite be sure whether it was from anger at the omega, or at her subordinates for their outburst. “They haven’t even sent their leader to negotiate for them!” Indra nearly roared, gesturing so viciously in Clarke’s direction that the omega jumped. “ _Heda, teik ai frag du op gon disha nospek.”_ Anya said nothing, but Lexa could smell her mentor’s fury as her hand tightened on the grip of her sword.

Though Lexa was the most dominant of the three of them, she was not immune to the tension humming through the air, and she knew that Indra was at the end of her rope. _"Set yu daun, Indra,"_ she ordered, letting just enough alpha overtones into her voice to make the general step back and dip her head, though the snarl did not leave her face.

Though Lexa would not say so, she had to admit she was impressed. She knew it could not be easy for Clarke to hold her ground with three very dominant alphas bearing down on her, but the Sky girl’s stance held only determination. Her scent was much the same, and that would have ordinarily made Lexa want to step even closer, pumping out alpha pheromones to make the omega submit...but there was something else to Clarke's smell, a tantalizing trace that Lexa could not quite parse, yet it stung in her nose like a spark.

She hadn’t realized she was leaning in to catch more of it until she felt a tug at the back of her jacket. She glanced back over her shoulder, lip curled in a silent snarl, but settled when she caught Anya’s warning look. Her former mentor gave a brief shake of her head, and Lexa had to work hard to school her features into their usual mask of nonchalance. What was she doing? She had spent hours in meetings, coercing and cajoling and outright bribing to establish her Coalition, but for some reason this _Skayon_ made all of her diplomatic skill fly out the window.

When she turned back to Clarke, prepared to apologize for her general's behavior and her own, she caught the tail end of a shudder that suggested fear...yet that was not what she smelled from the omega at all. She was looking up at Lexa with wide eyes, blue as a mountain lake and deep enough to drown in, and she couldn't help the step she took forward. Clarke's eyes widened even further, and her lips parted in a shallow gasp. Lexa knew this was inappropriate—this was a ceasefire, a meeting between enemy leaders, and it would be foolish to assume that only her people had hidden snipers covering their every move—but somehow that seemed inconsequential when Clarke smelled this good, and was looking at her like that...

A snarl ripped her out of her reverie, and she jerked back just in time to see the shaggy-haired boy who had come to the bridge with Clarke storming towards her, closely followed by the dark-haired girl and Anya's delinquent warrior, Lincoln. The Sky boy grabbed Clarke's hand, attempting to draw her behind him protectively. Lexa's hackles rose at the anger radiating from him, made somewhat less impressive by his bland beta smell. She curled her lip and he visibly recoiled, but held his ground. "Stay away from her!"

Rage seared through Lexa. He was standing between her and Clarke, keeping her from the omega, from what was _hers…_

To her shock, however, the next growl that split the air did not come from her, but from Clarke. "Finn, don’t!" she snapped, pulling away from him and crossing her arms over her chest to stop him from reaching for her hand again. "You need to calm down. I have this under control."

The beta— _Finn—_ started to protest at once. "But Clarke, she—"

Lexa's hands bunched into fists, and she took another step forward, crowding even further into the intruder's space. Her eyes narrowed, fixing on him directly, and when she spoke, it was in a low growl that _dared_ him to challenge her. "Think carefully before you speak, _Skayon._ Your leader has given you an order. If you will not heed her authority, I will make you submit to mine."

To her immense satisfaction, a visible tremor coursed through Finn's body. He took an instinctive step back and averted his gaze, staring at the ground instead. Clarke, however, was not pleased with her show of aggression. "That wasn't necessary," she said with a disapproving shake of her head. "I can handle my own people."

"He was disrespectful to both of us," Lexa said, trying to ignore the steady throb at the back of her skull. Without Finn standing between them, she was once again able to stare into Clarke's eyes, although the movement of the omega's chest every time she drew in a breath competed for her attention. It took her several moments to realize that Clarke was waiting for her to continue. "It is rude to interrupt someone else's conversation—especially since that conversation is the only chance your people have to save themselves."

"He was trying to protect me."

Clarke's jaw jutted out at a stubborn angle, and once more, Lexa found herself gazing at the smooth, curved hollow where her throat joined her shoulder. It would be just the right place to sink her teeth into... _No. You cannot allow these thoughts to continue. They are are a sign of weakness, and you will not succumb._

"Besides, your guard did the same thing."

Lexa swallowed hard, fighting to keep her composure. Even Clarke's voice slid into her ears like silk, and she did not want her own to shake. "What my general does is none of your concern. She obeys my orders without question. Will your people do the same for you, Clarke? Will they listen to you when they arrive, or will they force me to finish the war you started?"

A shadow of fear crossed Clarke's face. “You don't understand. If you fire the first shot, those people coming down won’t bother negotiating, no matter what I tell them. Our technology? They _will_ wipe you out.”

Though Clarke’s words could have been interpreted as a threat, her tone was all warning. A tinge of fear soured the sweet blanket of her scent, and Lexa stiffened. Despite her faith in her army and her warriors, she believed what this Sky girl said. Still, she could not afford to show weakness. She was _Heda,_ and she could not allow threats to her people to go unchallenged. “They wouldn’t be the first to try. If you will not listen...”

"No, you listen," Clarke said, bridging the last step between them. Their faces hovered only an inch apart, and Lexa had to choke back a completely inappropriate groan when she noticed how close their lips were. The air around her was suddenly filled with _Clarke,_ and she couldn't stop drawing it in with ragged, shallow breaths. "This war doesn't have to happen, Lexa. The two of us can end it, right here and now. Together."

Lexa remained frozen. Her heart hammered hard against the cage of her ribs, and the low throb between her legs had become a pounding ache, but her limbs wouldn't to cooperate and her mouth refused to move. Instead, she held perfectly still, trembling in place like a rabbit caught in a snare. Clarke's pull had captured her, and she was terrified that if she did regain her freedom, she would use it to pull the omega into her arms. She had never felt this powerless in the face of her instincts before, not since...

_Costia's last heat. The way I lost myself in her._ She inhaled again, and realization dawning. Some parts of Clarke's scent were impossibly alien, but it was becoming more and more familiar. _She does not have long. Perhaps another day. And that means you don't have long either. Do what is right for your people and give her an answer before you lose your reason._

Lexa opened her mouth and drew in a breath to say something, anything, but that turned out to be a mistake. Clarke's scent had descended over her like a shroud, blanketing her every thought and sense. The hints of arousal it contained were far more than hints now, and every breath Lexa took seemed to draw them in deeper, stoking the flame of her own. She could feel the shaft of her clit starting to thicken and extend, and the sudden image of what it would look like sinking into the omega made her choke back a moan.

A low hum of voices had started up around them, their cadences swift and agitated, but Lexa couldn't make out a word. Clarke's eyes had darkened even further, and she leaned slightly closer to Lexa, nostrils flaring subtly as she took in the alpha's smell. Lexa felt like pheromones must be pouring off her in response to the omega's pull. She vaguely recognized that it might serve to agitate those around her, but she couldn't quite remember why that was a problem.

That changed, of course, when the voices of their companions rose into shouts. She pulled away breathlessly, just in time to see Anya reaching out to curtail Indra, who had taken a step towards the dark-haired omega. Lincoln was attempting to put himself between the general and his mate, but Octavia was making that difficult: she was trying to take a swing at Indra, fury plain on her face. Lexa blinked rapidly, trying to regain her bearings. When had everything gone to such _skrish?_

Clarke appeared similarly discombobulated, but soon recovered, snapping at Finn to help Lincoln contain Octavia. Lexa turned to Indra and growled, _"Chil yu daun,"_ infusing as much command into her voice as possible. After another high snarl, the general settled to Lexa's satisfaction. She turned to Clarke, preparing to suggest that they perhaps ask their companions to leave and let them continue their...negotiations.

A shout rang out from the treeline across the bridge, making her head whip over to the far shore. A dark-haired boy had emerged from the trees and was yelling, "There are Grounders in the trees! Clarke, run!" There was something long and dark in his hands, and although he was waving it about, Lexa recognized it instantly.

_"Fayagon!"_ she yelled, grabbing for Anya's and Indra's sleeves and diving for the cover of a crumbled parapet. The world erupted into shouting and chaos, the thunder of bullets and the hiss of arrows filling her ears with their harsh percussion. She could hear the beta, Finn, urging Clarke to come with him; a powerful impulse to rise up and rip her out of his grasp boiled in her chest, but she was far enough removed from the omega's pull to realize what an insane idea that was. She could not, however, resist poking her head over the rubble to get a last glimpse of the Skaikru, even as Anya hissed at her to keep her head down. She was granted a brief, perfect vision of the curve of Clarke's ass in motion as she sprinted for the cover of the woods before Anya put a hand on her head and forced it down.

Snarling, she struggled with her former mentor, unwilling to let the omega out of her sight, but by the time she succeeded in raising her head once more, the Skaikru were gone. Their covering fire had stopped but they waited a few more minutes as her sentries scanned the trees, making certain that there were no others lying in wait. Finally, she heard Ryder's gruff voice from the trees above: _"Heda, em klir."_  Sighing, she let herself fall back against the parapet and rested her head on the cool stone.

Indra rose with a muted growl and began striding back across the bridge, muttering curses under her breath at their mounts, who had spooked and were currently winding nervously through the trees. To Lexa's annoyance, Anya stayed where she was, observing her closely with no small amount of concern. At last she said quietly, " _Heda_...what happened back there?"

All she could do was sigh and shake her head. "I truly have no idea."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Skayon - singular of Skaikru; person from the Sky People  
> Shof op. Disha hukop laik ain sad klin - Be quiet. This alliance is my decision.  
> Sha, Heda. Ba osir nou na wich em in - Yes, Commander. But we cannot trust her.  
> Komba raun - Come here.  
> Heda, teik ai frag du op gon disha *nospek - Commander, let me kill her for this disrespect.  
> Set yu daun - Calm down.  
> Skrish - shit  
> Fayagon - gun, firearm  
> Heda, em klir - Commander, all clear.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We are continuing this story despite everything that's happened. It's AU, so maybe N1ghtwr1ter and I can give Clexa the happy ending they deserve.
> 
> [](http://s558.photobucket.com/user/calfaolan/media/green78%20-%20twon%20cover_zpskkb485uj.jpg.html)  
> 

"What the hell happened back there?"

Clarke darted a sideways glance at Bellamy, refusing to slow her brisk strides as they picked their way through the forest. Even though he hadn't said her name, she knew he was addressing her. Their group had remained silent for the past hour as they made their way back to camp, but her thoughts hadn't remained nearly so quiet. Her ears still rang with gunfire, and her nostrils stung with the lingering traces of Lexa's scent. When she closed her eyes, she could still see streaks of dark warpaint and the clean-cut line of the alpha's jaw.

She shook herself, deciding that the best course of action was to deny everything. Thanks to Jasper's trigger-happy mistake, they weren't likely to have any more peace talks with the Grounders anyway. "I don't know what you're talking about," she snapped, picking up her pace. There was no sign that any of Lexa's warriors had followed them, but she didn't want to take any chances—and she didn't want to walk directly beside Bellamy, Finn, or any of the others either.

Bellamy sped up as well, his dark eyes narrowing in anger. "You know exactly what I'm talking about, princess. You and that Grounder—she was their leader, wasn't she? Her people were about to kill us, and you were drooling over her like a five-course meal. Another second, and you might've dropped to all fours."

Clarke wanted to be angry. Bellamy's accusations were incredibly offensive, and especially inappropriate since they had barely escaped death by the skin of their teeth. But as much as she hated to admit it, he wasn't entirely wrong. Something about Commander Lexa had bewitched her, and the lingering effects of the alpha's pheromones still hadn't faded. Her underwear was sticky and uncomfortable, and the hard points of her nipples chafed beneath her shirt. "You're disgusting," she said, refusing to look at him dead-on. "I was trying to negotiate with her. We were just about to come to terms before Jasper started shooting."

"Hey, I saved your life!" Jasper protested from a few yards back. Clarke didn't look at him, but he smelled almost as angry as Bellamy. "Those archers in the trees could have killed us—"

"But  _ you _ shot first," Finn said. "I thought I told you no guns!"

"Oh, so we're talking about this now?" Bellamy came to an abrupt halt, and although she wanted to continue walking, Clarke turned with him. If this argument was going to happen, it would be better for everyone to have it out before they got back to camp. "Those guns are the only thing that saved us back there. If Clarke hadn't told us to come—"

"To protect us, not to start shooting in the middle of negotiations." She positioned herself between Bellamy and Finn, partially to keep them separated, and partially because she was furious with them both. "I told you we couldn't trust the Grounders, Finn, and I was right. They came with weapons, and they could have killed us. And you—" She glared at Bellamy, her upper lip pulling back over her teeth. "You need to keep better control of your people. I asked you to watch my back, and instead, you and Jasper might have just ruined our last chance for peace."

An incredulous look crossed Bellamy's face. He shook his head in disbelief, crowding into her space and letting his own pheromones wash over her. They didn't garner much of a reaction, especially with Lexa's scent still heavy in her nose and mouth, but his body language was all aggression. "Control? You want to talk to me about control? You and that Grounder alpha were about to start rutting right in the middle of the bridge! Those aren't the kind of peace talks I signed up for."

Clarke whirled, about ready to tell Bellamy where he could stick his peace talks, but Raven got there first. "Bell, will you shut the fuck up?"

_ "Thank you," _ Clarke started to say, but the mechanic turned on her as well.

"You be quiet too," she said, leveling a hard gaze at Clarke. "Bellamy's an ass, but he has a point. If you can't keep it in your pants long enough to convince the Grounders not to kill us all, then you shouldn't be the one conducting negotiations."

"I'm fine," Clarke fairly spat, but all that earned her was a raised eyebrow. Letting out a huff, she turned away from the beta and crossed her arms, struggling to tamp down her anger. She couldn't hold back the worry that ate at her, however. What  _ had _ happened back on the bridge, with Lexa? Ordinarily, she prided herself on her control, her ability to rise above the instincts that drove her to want an alpha like that, to submit...

A shudder coursed down her spine at the thought, and she couldn't even blame it on the chill—the wind had died down now that they were in the woods, and she had found herself tugging at the neck of her jacket and rolling up her sleeves as they made their way back to camp. They'd spent the first ten minutes or so running for their lives, but when it became clear that the Grounders weren't pursuing them they'd slowed to a jog, and then a walk. At this point she should have more than cooled down; there was no reason for the warmth she felt prickling at her skin, or the beads of sweat that slid down her back.

"Hey, are you feeling okay, princess?"

Clarke jumped, nose wrinkled in an instinctive snarl. Finn had taken the opportunity of the others arguing to make his way to her side, and his eyes were wide and dark with concern. Clarke sighed, forcing herself to relax.

"Yeah, just stressed out. I'm fine, really." She gave him what she hoped was a winning smile. He didn't look convinced.

"Are you sure? Because you're looking kind of flushed. Do you want me to take you to medical when we get back, or—"

"Finn, I said I'm fine!" she snapped, a little bit more loudly than she'd intended. Diverting her gaze from his hurt-puppy look, she realized that all of the others were staring at her.  _ Dammit, Griffin, focus, _ she told herself, and raised her chin. If she was smart, she could actually turn her outburst into an opportunity.

"Look, I know this ended badly, but we need to reopen negotiations with the Grounders if we can," she said, trying to keep her voice light but firm and her mind anywhere but on the Grounder Commander. "We need to try to convince them that it was an accident, a misunderstanding." She directed her attention towards the Grounder beside Octavia. "Lincoln, do you think you could get in touch with them and get them to consider another meeting?"

The Grounder warrior looked a bit startled at being addressed, but nodded. "The Trikru general, Indra—she's the leader of my village, and I've known her since I was a pup. I can talk to her and see if I can get her to set up another meeting."

Clarke nodded her thanks. "That would be perfect."

"I'm going with him," Octavia said loudly, and Clarke had to curtail a groan.

"Like hell you are," Bellamy said, turning the full force of his ire on his sister. 

Octavia bristled, rising to her full height, standing nose to nose with him despite the pheromones he was pouring out. "Try and stop me," she snarled, spitting the words directly into his face.

"Bellamy, Octavia, don't do this," Finn said, hurrying over to them and once again taking up the mantle of peacekeeper. Privately, Clarke was relieved. It wasn't the first time Finn had been close enough to make things uncomfortable since their one-night stand, but it was by far the worst. Even Raven's arrival hadn't left her feeling this awkward in his presence.

_ Or maybe it's not just about Finn, _ a soft voice hissed in her head.  _ Maybe it's about you. You and the Commander and the way she smelled when she was standing so close... _

"You can't go back there, Octavia," Jasper said, startling Clarke from her thoughts. His eyes were still panicked, and his scent and posture fairly vibrated with anxiety. "Did you forget about the time they put an  _ entire spear _ through my chest?"

Octavia remained facing Bellamy, but she did aim a sharp, sideways glare in Jasper's direction. "Did you forget about the time you shot them for no reason?"

_ "No reason?" _ Raven repeated, shaking her head in disbelief. "Their archers almost killed us! That arrow was an inch away from Finn's head." Clarke flinched as Raven's piercing gaze turned on her. The accusation behind it remained unspoken, but she heard it loud and clear:  _ He could have died on that bridge trying to rescue you. _

Clarke shook her head, pushing off the wave of guilt before it could drag her under. She didn't have the time or energy to worry about Finn, or Raven, or Bellamy and Octavia. Her focus needed to be on fixing Jasper's mistake and convincing Lexa to give them another chance. Otherwise...

"We both broke the rules. Lexa has to admit that. I only talked to her for a few minutes, but she understands our positions. She doesn't want this to escalate into a war either. If there's the slightest chance she'd be willing to hear us out, we have to try and get another meeting." She turned to Lincoln, and everyone else's eyes followed hers until the entire group was staring at him. "Lincoln, will they hurt Octavia if she goes with you, or do you think she might be able to help?"

"No way," Bellamy said, slicing a hand through the air. "It's not going to happen—"

"My people won't hurt her," Lincoln said, ignoring him completely. "When an omega takes a mate, they become part of their mate's Clan. They might not accept her at first, but if she comes with me, they won't kill her on sight."

Bellamy's fists clenched, his shoulders bunched with rage, and a growl rumbled through his chest. "What are you saying, Grounder? That my sister's your  _ mate _ now?" He lifted his gun, aiming the muzzle straight at Lincoln's chest. "Fuck that. You can't have her if you're dead."

Clarke threw out a hand to lower the barrel of Bellamy's rifle, but Octavia was faster. She placed herself directly between her brother and Lincoln, arms outstretched in defiance. "Bellamy, stop!"

"Get out of the way, Octavia. I don't know what he did to you, but—"

At last, Clarke saw her chance to intervene. She put a hand on Bellamy's arm, forcing him to pay attention to her. "Octavia's right. Shooting Lincoln isn't going to protect her. The only way to do that is to stop this war right now." Bellamy's mouth opened as if he wanted to argue, but Clarke saw a dim flicker of understanding in his eyes. "If you kill him, you're killing our last chance for peace. You're killing  _ all _ of us."

"Why should I listen to you?" Bellamy asked, his voice soft but bitter. "How do I know you're thinking straight? Because I  _ really _ don't trust your judgment right now, especially when it comes to the Grounders. We all saw what you were like back there."

_ There it is again _ , Clarke thought. How could she be trusted—how could she trust  _ herself _ —if she was so easily compromised around the Grounder Commander? But Bellamy was looking for an answer, his face and his scent growing more defiant by the moment, and it wasn't just him. Although her gaze was locked with his in a stare-down that had become unfortunately familiar to both of them in the last few weeks, she could tell that the others were all waiting for the result of their clash of wills. 

She wasn't entirely certain of the right answer herself—why Lexa had affected her so strongly, and what she intended to do about it if it happened again—but she  _ was _ certain of one thing: if she gave Bellamy an inch, he'd take a damn mile. She also knew that there was no possibility for peace with the Grounders without his support. 

Mustering all the confidence she had and mixing it with a little bit of total bullshit, Clarke raised her chin and narrowed her eyes. "Look, I know things on the bridge didn't go exactly as planned.”

Jasper snorted. " _ That's _ the understatement of the year." 

Clarke shot him a glare before continuing. "However, that was because we didn't know what to expect. We'd never really dealt with the Grounders before in any capacity other than as enemy combatants."  _ And torture victims, _ she thought, carefully keeping herself from looking at Lincoln. "But this time, it'll be different. We'll have met and there won't be any more surprises. We’ll be ready for them, and we’ll know how to handle them. And," she said in a sudden burst of inspiration, "Bellamy can pick the meeting spot. If you think you can convince the Grounders," she amended, looking to Lincoln. 

The Grounder considered, eyes flicking between Clarke and Bellamy. "The Commander might be amenable," he said at last, his words slow and measured. "Anya was the one who decided on the bridge, and I think they will see the sense in allowing your side to choose where the next meeting will be.  _ But _ ," he said, leveling a sharp gaze at Bellamy, whose eyes narrowed in response, "that's only if your ideas are reasonable. It'll have to be somewhere on the border of our two territories, and there can't be any features to the terrain that could give one side an edge over the other." 

_ Thank God for Lincoln _ , Clarke couldn't help thinking, surprising herself a bit. The Grounder was staying carefully non-confrontational, but was also clearly not willing to back down under Bellamy's seething glare. For a moment Clarke was worried that that wouldn't be enough—that Bellamy's protective instincts, both as an alpha and as a brother, would get the better of him, and he would reject her entire proposal—but after a tense moment he nodded. "Fine," he said, scent radiating agitation. "But if she comes back with even a scratch, I don't care how many of you there are. I'm not gonna stop until I've ripped your throat out."

"Oh for fuck's sake, Bell," Octavia started, eyes snapping with fury, but Lincoln laid a soothing hand on her arm and nodded somberly at her brother. 

Lincoln and Octavia turned, preparing to set off, but Bellamy reached out a hand and stopped his sister. "Wait," he said, and began fumbling with the radio clipped to his jacket. "Take this," he said, holding it out to her. "If anything goes wrong, radio and we'll come for you right that second." For a moment, Octavia looked like she wanted to slap it out of his hand, but eventually she took it roughly. Bellamy sighed. "And you can tell us whether or not they go for the negotiations. Once we get back to camp, I'll start scouting for a place we can have them and then I'll radio the coordinates." 

Octavia nodded, her eyes and jaw still hard, but her scent was a confused mix of fury and hurt as she turned away and followed Lincoln into the darkness beneath the trees. 

Clarke let out a breath she hadn't known she'd been holding and turned back to the others. "We should probably get going. It's almost dark, and we told everybody we'd be back before sundown."

No one else spoke, but there were a few somber nods of agreement. When she started off in the direction of camp, the rest of the group followed, with varying degrees of reluctance. Clarke was grateful for their silence. Her own mind was swirling with fear and confusion, and the air in her nose and mouth still smelled of alpha.  _ Of Lexa.  _ It had been hours, and the scent continued to linger around her, seeping into her very pores.

With each stride she took, Clarke tried to shore up her confidence. It was true that the Commander had left her shaken, but she was better than Bellamy thought she was. Just because she was an omega didn't mean she would throw away their only chance at peace for a quick fuck, especially with the leader of the people who kept trying to kill them.  _ The next time I see her, things will be different. I'll know what to expect. She won't take me by surprise again. _

But in the back of her head, doubts continued to whisper. Memories of Lexa's lithe, powerful body, of the proud tilt of her head, of her brilliant green eyes and the way they had darkened kept rushing to the forefront of Clarke's mind, and she couldn't dismiss them no matter how hard she tried. She felt drawn to the alpha in ways she couldn't explain—ways she was afraid to consider too deeply for fear of what she might discover.

She pressed her lips together and sped up, struggling valiantly to ignore the sweat pooling in the dip of her collarbone and running past the small of her back.  _ It doesn't matter. My instincts don't matter. I'm going to do what's right for my people, no matter what. _

* * *

Lexa frowned down at her left boot, eyes narrowed. Despite her tugging, the stubborn thing refused to come off without a fight. She and her people had taken to the river during their flight from the bridge, and the water had left the laces in a tight, tangled knot. It was such a simple thing—insignificant, petty—but her frustration had been boiling for half a day, and she was swiftly reaching her breaking point. She withdrew her hunting knife from her hip, fingers curling tight around the grip.

" _ Chil yu au, Heda.  _ What did that boot ever do to you?"

Lexa flinched in surprise, nearly tipping her chair back as she hurried to stand up. Her first instinct was to brandish the knife in her hand, but she relaxed slightly when she recognized the figure standing in the doorway. "Anya," she said, fighting back a sigh of relief. She gave her former mentor a quick up and down, trying to discern her purpose. "What are you doing here?"

Anya wasn't intimidated by the question. She shrugged, stepping into the room and closing the door behind her. "Why are you so surprised to see me?"

Lexa's scowl deepened. She hadn't heard a knock, footfalls, or even breathing. She was usually much more aware of her surroundings, and the fact that Anya had been able to sneak up on her unnoticed was incredibly embarrassing. "I wasn't expecting you," she said, sheathing her knife and folding her arms stiffly behind her back.

Anya leaned back against the wall, striking a much more casual pose. "Then who were you expecting?"

Normally, Lexa didn't mind when Anya treated her informally in private, but today, she had little tolerance for friendly conversation. Her body and mind were restless, and she had tossed and turned for most of the night after their arrival at Tondisi, consumed by fevered, fitful dreams. The last thing she needed was an interrogation. "No one," she said, a little more harshly than necessary. "And you still haven't answered my question. What are you doing here? Have your scouts seen any signs of the  _ Skaikru, _ or is this visit a waste of my time?"

"That depends on you, I think." Anya stepped further into the tent, her walk lean and silent, a predator's prowl. To her disgust, Lexa found that it was making her nervous. Somehow, despite her years of training, her successful Conclave, and her ascension to Heda, Anya still had the ability to make her feel like the young, inexperienced pup she had been at the start of their training. _If she hasn't lost that power by now, she probably never will._

Anya dropped herself into a chair at the table in a manner entirely at odds with her usual grace, and folded her long legs together before fixing her with a flat stare. Lexa couldn't help the growl that rumbled out of her chest this time, despite the fact that Anya had long since mastered the ability of putting pressure on a fellow alpha without offering challenge. Anya raised an eyebrow, and Lexa stopped herself immediately, reflexively averting her eyes. The other alpha let out a snort, but did not choose to question her show of deference, even though Lexa did not owe it to her any longer.

"My preliminary scouts have come back. They say that the  _ Skaikru _ camp has become a bee's nest, and we have kicked the hive. They bristle with  _ fayagon _ and they make bullets day and night, but they do not venture further into the forest than they must in order to forage."

"That won't last," Lexa grunted, picking at the edges of a map of the terrain spread across her table. "I'm sure they've nearly hunted the place out by now, unskilled as they are."

Anya nodded. "They will need to begin venturing out further in search of food, but for now they appear to be sticking close to camp. Except, that is, for a small team, led by one of the group that fired on us. An alpha, I believe. My scouts said that they have heard the others call him  _ Belomi _ . They seem to be searching for something, but we haven’t yet determined what it is."

Lexa bristled.  _ Another alpha. The Skaikru certainly have enough of them. So why are they being led by an omega? _ She was not going to ask about Clarke. She was  _ not _ going to ask about Clarke. She was not—

"Their leader, the omega, was not with them."

Lexa let out a breath she hadn't known she was holding, and then darted a guilty glance at Anya, hoping she hadn't noticed.

She had. "I have other scouts headquartered in the bunker nearest to the  _ Skaikru _ camp, settled in for a longer watch. They say that there is some dissent amongst them, largely centered around those who follow  _ Klark _ and those who agree more with this  _ Belomi _ . There has been a tense truce established between the groups, as they have decided that we are the greater threat, and the alpha has agreed to follow Clarke’s lead for now. But without  _ Belomi  _ there to enforce the truce among his followers, there has been some unrest.”

Lexa nodded, careful to restrain her body language, but her mind seethed with sudden concern. Clarke was alone, unprotected, in a camp full of alphas and who knew what their betas and omegas were like, whether they would back her if the tension came to a head.  _ Perhaps it would be better to invade the camp now, before anything can happen. A few warriors could slip over their walls at night and open the gates for a larger force. The new moon in two days would provide adequate cover _ —

Anya’s voice interrupted her racing thoughts. "You're unbalanced,  _ Seken _ .”

Lexa’s head whipped around. “ _ Chit yu mana?” _ she growled, letting a hint of command into her tone, even though she knew that Anya was right and did not deserve her ire.

Her former mentor’s gaze was hard and unwavering. “You know very well what I mean.” After a moment of glaring at one another, however, Anya sighed and dropped her eyes to the map on the table. “I know it has been some time, Lexa, since Costia. It’s more than understandable. And ordinarily, I would be happy that you felt this way about someone new, but whatever  _ this  _ is between you and the Sky girl cannot be.”

“There is  _ nothing  _ between us except a mutual desire to come to a beneficial treaty,” Lexa insisted lamely, knowing immediately that Anya wouldn’t buy it. True to form, her mentor’s eyebrow lifted, making guilt coil in Lexa’s stomach. “She is…attractive,” she admitted after a moment under Anya’s knowing stare. “It has been a while since I felt so drawn to an omega. But I recognize that my behavior toward her was inappropriate, and unbefitting of my status as  _ Heda _ . However, I know now how she might affect me, and I will be able to prepare myself, to maintain control.”

Anya nodded. “Good.” But then her eyes softened, her voice lowering with concern, and Lexa’s stomach dropped further. “I want good things for you,  _ ai Seken,”  _ her former mentor said. “I know how hard it was to lose your mate, but you did not let it make you hard. Instead, it gave you purpose—a purpose you used to give our people peace that they have never known. And I am prouder of you than I can say.”

Anya’s voice was steady, yet she could not quite meet Lexa’s eye, and Lexa felt her throat grow thick. Anya had not been a demonstrative, encouraging mentor; her lessons had been hard, and she had backed them with firm discipline. She could probably count on one hand the amount of times she had seen Anya smile at her achievements, and wouldn’t even need that to tally the moments she had given Lexa explicit praise. After clearing her throat, the other alpha continued, “However, the  _ Skaikru  _ pose a powerful threat to our people, and to that peace. You must not jeopardize all that you have worked for because of your instincts, and because of what you have lost. Your care must be for the living, not the dead.”

Lexa raised her chin in acknowledgement. “ _ Stedaunon gon we en kikon ste enti.” _

Anya nodded. “Keep your focus on that, Heda.” She stood to leave, but turned before the tent flap with a sly glint in her eye. “And if you find that you’re having difficulty keeping your mind and body in harmony, I’m sure there are plenty of pretty girls in Indra’s village who would be happy to help you.”

Lexa let out a furious groan and buried her face in her hands. Her former mentor’s laughter rang in her ears as she stepped from the tent into the gathering dusk, but she didn't peek from between her fingers until Anya was long gone. Once she was safely alone, she sighed and slumped in her chair, cheeks still on fire. It wasn't that taking a second mate, or even a casual bedpartner, was unusual for someone in her position. The life of a warrior was brutal and often short, and most took pleasure wherever they could find it. Still, mating wasn't her preferred method of relaxation when her burdens began to weigh heavy on her shoulders.

_ I cannot believe Anya said that. Cannot believe she even suggested... _

She reached up to rub the faded scar on her shoulder, fingertips slipping beneath her shirt. It had been well over two years since Costia's death, but despite her professions to Anya, her dead lover's ghost still lingered with her more than she liked to admit. The fact that she had been forced to welcome her mate's murderer into her Coalition with open arms did not help matters at all. Nia almost never dared to show her face near Polis, but simply seeing her representatives was enough to dredge up painful memories.

Lexa gazed once more at the map, eyes fixed on the scribbled circles that made up Tondisi _.  _ She had hoped that by leaving Polis for a short time to deal with the Skaikru threat, she would be able to lay her past to rest and refocus on her people. Apparently, her efforts were in vain. She was still slipping, in no small part thanks to the Sky omega who had reminded her so much of her lost love, and if Anya had noticed, that meant something needed to be done.

She took a deep breath, reaching within herself in search of an answer, but no matter how hard she tried to focus, her thoughts remained with Clarke. Once more, her mind wandered back to their encounter on the bridge, reliving every second she had spent in the omega's presence. Clarke's pull had been undeniable, every bit as strong as the attraction she had felt during Costia's first heat. She could remember the curling spice of the Sky girl's scent without even trying, could recall the shimmering pools of her eyes, down to the precise shade of blue...

_ You cannot have her, _ she told herself. She returned her attention to the map, following the curving lines of the river that led toward the enemy camp.  _ Klark kom Skaikru is your only chance for peace, not a replacement for what you have lost... if peace is even possible.  _ After what had happened back at the bridge, she had serious doubts. Almost all of her warriors had escaped uninjured, but she needed to face reality. The Sky people were preparing for a war, and she was prepared to give them what they wanted. Unless something miraculous occurred, the time for negotiations was over.

" _ Heda? Yu der? _ "

For the second time that afternoon, Lexa was startled by the sound of someone outside her tent. She rose from her chair, tensing when she recognized Indra's scent. The general had been polite enough not to barge in, but whatever news she bore couldn't be good.

" _ Min yu op, Indra. _ "

After a moment, the tent flap swept open to reveal Indra's concerned face. The alpha was still in full armor with her sword strapped to her back, and she carried herself with a sense of urgency. "Our guards have stopped two people outside the village walls.  _ Linkon— _ "

Lexa's eyebrows lifted in surprise. "Anya's missing scout? I assumed he was killed on the bridge."

Indra shook her head, but Lexa caught a barely-noticeable flare of her nostrils. Although he was currently under Anya's command, Indra was responsible for his behavior as the leader of Tondisi. "It seems he chose to flee with  _ Skaikru _ instead of with our people."

"You mentioned two people. Who has he brought with him?"

"He has returned with an omega, Heda _ — _ a  _ Skayon _ who bears his mark and his scent.” Her upper lip peeled back over her teeth in a snarl. “He says he has taken her as his mate, and that the two of them come with a new offer from  _ Klark _ .” 

Lexa's eyes narrowed, and before she could stop herself, she ordered, "Take me to them.”

Indra nodded and ducked out of the tent, Lexa close on her heels. The moment fresh night air filled her nose, her brain flooded with reasons why this was a terrible idea. She had reached the conclusion that she needed to do _something_ about her attraction to Clarke, but she had come to no conclusions as to what that should be. All-out war had seemed to be the most likely option, she thought wryly; stopping the annihilation of her people at the hands of the Skaikru seemed a simple solution for an inconvenient attraction to their leader. But the omega had sent her followers with an offer of peace—and, it seemed, Clarke could now count a warrior of the Trikru as one of those followers. 

Lexa followed Indra to the center of the village, where Lincoln and his dark-haired mate stood, ringed by torches and a lot of glinting steel. She heard a low growl rumble through her general and shot her a quelling look. Furious as Indra might be that one of her own had deserted her, Lexa couldn't let her rip into Lincoln without first hearing what he had to say. 

" _ Heda _ ," Lincoln said, dipping his head as she approached. After a moment, the girl at his side did the same, though she didn't look happy about it. Lexa fixed her eyes on the omega, wondering if there was any possible way she could subtly get information from her about Clarke.  _ What is she like among her people? How old is she? Has she ever taken a mate?  _ The alpha shook her head to banish these thoughts, willing her face to stop burning.  _ Definitely not subtle. _

_ "Chit yu bilaik?" _ she said, addressing Lincoln's mate, hoping to deflect some of the attention she could feel from the warriors around them. 

_ "Ai laik Okteivia...kom...Skaikru," _ the girl said haltingly, and Lexa's eyebrows rose. Lincoln fairly beamed with pride, squeezing his mate's hand. 

"And what message do you have for me, Octavia of the Sky People?" she said, switching to  _ Gonasleng  _ for convenience. The two were very clearly freshly mated, what with the starry-eyed looks they kept shooting each other. Lexa felt her stomach twist with something akin to jealousy, and she willed herself to remain firm.

With no small relief, the omega said, "Our people want you to know that what happened on the bridge was a mistake. Jasper, the boy who shot at you, didn't have orders to do that. He was just supposed to be there for our protection."

"And yet the agreement was that no weapons would be present at our meeting," Lexa said, knowing where this was going but unable to help herself.

To her surprise, Lincoln spoke up. "An agreement that you did not hold to yourself, Commander.”

Lexa narrowed her eyes at him. _Clearly his mate has made him bold._ "Be that as it may, I cannot take this lightly. Skaikru were on a shaky branch before; many of my people would say that it's already snapped." A low growl from Indra told her that the general agreed. 

Looking a little desperate, the Sky omega took a step forward, hands held out beseechingly. Instantly, half a dozen spears were leveled at her chest, and snarls rumbled from the throats of her warriors. Lexa held up a quelling hand and the noise stopped, but the spears did not withdraw. Octavia appeared shaken, but she didn't let it stop her for long. "We've come to ask for another chance to negotiate a treaty between our people. Bellamy—my brother—has identified a place that we think will work for both of us. We've marked the coordinates on a map." 

Glancing sidelong at the warriors surrounding her, Octavia reached into her pocket and pulled out a piece of cloth, tentatively holding it out to Lexa. After a moment, the alpha took it, studying it closely. It was a fairly rudimentary charcoal drawing of the nearby terrain, done in a neat, firm hand. She was familiar with the clearing that the Sky boy had designated for their meeting, and had to admit that it was a good choice: flat terrain, even cover on both sides, no clear advantages for either party to exploit. Looking up at Octavia, she narrowed her eyes.

"Our scouts will need to inspect this place first, to make certain that there are no surprises." 

The omega's jaw set in defiance at Lexa's cold tone, but before she could say anything rash, Lincoln stepped in, voice tight with relief. "Of course, Commander.  _ Mochof _ ."

"This is not a treaty itself," Lexa declared, making sure that her voice rang out over the assembled warriors. "This is a ceasefire which may lead to a treaty.  _ Skaikru  _ have threatened our lands and our people long enough; now it is time to see if they can be trusted to keep our peace." 

Her warriors let out a roar of approval, and Lexa was gratified to see the messengers quiver at their force. "We will meet in this place tomorrow at noon," she said over the noise, then turned on her heel and swept back towards her tent. Her strides were long and confident, her back straight and her head held high, but internally she was a mess of doubt. _ You need to maintain your control at all costs,  _ she told herself as firmly as she could.  _ There's nothing this Sky omega could give you that you cannot find among your own people. Do not let your feelings get in the way of doing your duty. You created this peace; now it's up to you to keep it—even if that means destroying whatever might threaten it. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chil yu au - Calm down  
> Fos - First  
> Seken - Second  
> Chit yu mana - What do you mean?  
> Stedaunon gon we en kikon ste enti - The dead are gone and the living are hungry.  
> Yu der - Are you there?  
> Min yu op - Come in  
> Fayagon - gun  
> Mochof - thank you


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *sigh*... N1ghtwr1ter here. I'm sure I speak for both of us when I say that it's been wonderful to hear from you guys about how much you're enjoying this fic, and how it helps with the wound that losing Lexa left in all of us. And I wanted to say thank you back! Knowing that people are still reading and commenting on Clexa fic, despite all that's happened, gives me the hope and motivation I need to keep going. This shit is hard, and I know a lot of people out there are still hurting, but sticking together as a fandom is what's going to get us through this.
> 
> _Ste yuj, Clexakru._ We got this.
> 
> [](http://s558.photobucket.com/user/calfaolan/media/green78%20-%20twon%20cover_zpskkb485uj.jpg.html)

_ No suppressants. _

It had been over half a day since Raven had delivered the bad news, lips twisted in a tense line that wavered between a sympathetic smile and a jealous frown, but Clarke could still hear the words in her head. They echoed there with each rapid thud of her heart, lingering with her just like Commander Lexa's inescapable scent.

_ 'Sorry, Clarke. We used the last of our expired doses on Octavia, and you saw how well that worked. All we can do is keep you isolated, maybe try and construct some kind of heat chamber...' _

She had refused, of course. Despite the disaster at the bridge, she and Lexa had come close to establishing something—not quite trust, but at least a wary respect and a mutual willingness to listen. They had a rapport, one she wasn't willing to throw away just because her stupid body was about to betray her. Bellamy was cooperating for the moment, but who knew how long that would last? She needed to be there, needed to  _ personally _ make sure these negotiations didn't fall apart like last time. The Grounders wouldn't be generous enough to grant them a third chance.

_ You're going to be fine, _ she told herself as she trudged through the trees toward the clearing, eyes fixed straight ahead.  _ You still have your implant to take the edge off, and probably another twelve hours before the worst of it hits. That's more than enough time to meet the Grounders, do what you need to do, and get back to camp safely. _

But the closer they drew to the meeting place, the fuzzier her thoughts became, and the more she began to doubt her timeline. Her clothes clung to her slick, overheated skin despite the cool breeze, and her abdomen already carried a hollow ache. A steady throbbing had taken up residence between her legs, and her vision started to swim and sparkle at the edges.

_ The tops of the trees... they're the same color as her eyes... _

"Clarke?"

The sound of her name startled her from her thoughts. She snapped her head up, turning in time to see Finn reach out and steady her elbow. The touch sent a shiver straight down her spine, and even though she bristled, she couldn't find the will to shake him off. His palm wasn't the one she wanted pressed against her, and his eyes weren't the ones she wanted to be gazing into, but his warmth and nearness were comforting on some primal level.

"What?" she asked, trying not to make much of the breathy edge her voice had taken on.

"Look, we can't be too careful. If she...if the Grounders pick up your scent, these negotiations will be even more of a mess than last time." He let go of her elbow, shrugging out of his jacket and holding it out in offering. "Wear this. It should cover some of your scent—"

"I don't think that's a good idea," she said, taking a step back. Just a few weeks ago, Finn's scent had been very pleasing to her nose, but now, she could hardly pick up on it.  _ Compared to Lexa, I can barely smell him at all. _ "Besides, what about Raven?" she added when she finally noticed his hurt look. "I don't think she'll like smelling you on me later..."

"Finn's got a point, Clarke," Bellamy said, speeding up his strides to join them. "You're already broadcasting pretty strong." He clutched a rifle to his chest, although he had promised up and down not to use it unless their lives were threatened, and his scent was a strange mix of sweet and sour. One moment, Clarke wanted to dip her head in for a deeper breath. The next, his stench almost made her want to gag, and her heart sank as she realized why. Her inner omega was still holding out hope for Lexa, the alpha it had apparently selected as the strongest, but her body would settle for Bellamy in a pinch—if she got desperate.

"I'm not wearing your jacket either," she insisted, speeding up to put a little more space between her and both of them. Having Finn on one side and Bellamy on the other was starting to make her feel claustrophobic. "What do you think's going to happen if Lexa smells another alpha all over me? She'll take it as a challenge."

"What do you think's going to happen if Lexa  _ doesn't _ smell another alpha all over you?" Bellamy countered.

Clarke groaned. As much as she hated to admit it, Bellamy had a point. After a moment of hesitation, she snatched up Finn's jacket and draped it grudgingly over her shoulders.  _ Hopefully his scent won't upset her as much as Bellamy's. God, I hope this works. Otherwise... _ Images were already flashing through her mind, of Lexa's hands tearing the jacket off, tearing  _ her _ down to the ground, leaning in to run an eager tongue along the sweaty column of her throat.  _ No. Don't let yourself go there. You need to keep it together for a few more hours. Then you can lock yourself up and take the edge off. _

By unspoken agreement, Finn and Bellamy took the lead, pacing ahead of Clarke like some sort of honor guard. Ordinarily she would find it beyond annoying, but her head and nose were so muddled, the forest a dizzying mess of smells, that she couldn't help but feel grateful. They trekked through the woods for another quarter of an hour or so, Clarke feeling increasingly breathless and claustrophobic under the thick cover of the trees. When she looked back at Raven and Monroe—Jasper had not been invited back—bringing up the rear, clutching their rifles tightly as they scanned the trees for any signs of danger, she noticed that they were both shivering. 

_ They're just nervous, _ she told herself. And who wouldn't be? When Lincoln and Octavia had relayed Lexa's agreement to the terms of their meeting, they had made it clear that the Delinquents were on their last chance. Their very survival was hanging on these negotiations going well.  _ And of course my heat just _ had  _ to come now.  _ But it was fine, she was fine, they were all going to be fine. They would iron out a peace treaty with the Grounders, they'd go back to the dropship and the Grounders would go back to wherever Grounders lived, and then they'd never have to see each other again. No more spears, no more sneak attacks, no more infuriatingly attractive alphas... 

Clarke let out a whine at the thought before she could stop herself. Everyone halted instantly, and she closed her eyes, furious at herself. Nobody moved. Eventually Raven said quietly, "You okay, Griffin?" 

"Fine," Clarke gritted out, trying to ignore the trickle of wetness that threatened to flood her already ruined underwear. Closing her eyes had been a mistake; vivid images of Lexa simply reaching out and  _ taking her, _ in full view of Finn, Bellamy,  _ everyone, _ had rushed into the space behind her eyes. Opening them again to stem the tide, she saw that Finn had turned to face her, his eyes wide with concern. Bellamy, however, was standing ramrod straight, looking like he was doing his best not to breathe. Clarke sighed. "I'm fine, guys. Let's keep going. We don't want to be late and give them an excuse to call this whole thing off."

They arrived just before the sun reached its noontime zenith and found Lincoln and Octavia already there, standing in the middle of the meadow with their arms wrapped around each other. They broke apart the moment they heard the Arkers' arrival, but the damage had already been done. Clarke’s oncoming heat had made her hypersensitive to smells overnight and she could tell exactly what they'd been up to. It made her irrationally furious—could they not have kept their hands to themselves for five goddamn minutes? She wanted to snarl at them, but she clenched her jaw shut instead. They were a newly bonded pair; it was to be expected. All she could do was glare at them jealously. 

They fanned out across the meadow, making sure that they could all see each other clearly so that no one got separated. There was no bullshit this time about not being armed; neither party would have kept to it, anyway. As Clarke sweated in the midday sun beaming down on the back of her neck, she badly wanted to remove the jacket stifling her, but she just managed to stop herself. Revealing the full extent of her condition would be like dumping a full can of gasoline on an already simmering flame. 

Just when she had nearly decided that she didn't give a shit any longer, the warmth and itchiness of the fabric was driving her crazy and she needed it off of her, a low, menacing warhorn sounded, announced the Grounders' arrival. More of them were visible now, bristling with spears and bows and swords, but Clarke barely noticed. Her eyes snapped immediately to the alpha at the front of the pack, drinking in the proud tilt of her head, the fluid way her hips rocked with her horse's movements, the bright contrast of her eyes with the dark paint streaked across her face making her look fiercer, more primal than ever. Clarke barely managed to choke back a moan.  _ Shit _ . This was going to be more difficult than she'd thought.

Her gaze remained glued to the Commander as she drew her horse to a halt, clicked her tongue at him, and said something softly to him in Trigedasleng before patting his neck and sliding off his back, landing lightly on her feet with a soft thump. The others followed suit, but they might as well not have even bothered coming.  _ Wrong choice of words, _ Clarke thought, frantically trying to backtrack, but she was already pulsing greedily at the thought of what Lexa would look like, muscles straining, entire body tensed, preparing to flood Clarke with her release...

"Well met,  _ Klark kom Skaikru." _ Clarke blinked back to reality and found Lexa standing just ahead of her companions, looking at her expectantly. Shaking her head ferociously to clear it from the fog of her heat, she strode forward with as much confidence as she could muster, hoping it would conceal the way her legs were shaking. The Grounder approached as well, and Clarke started breathing through her mouth, hoping it would save her from the powerful scent of alpha. It didn't work—now she could practically  _ taste  _ Lexa, too. 

"Your people tell me that the shots fired at us on the bridge were a mistake," the Commander said, gesturing imperiously at Lincoln and Octavia. "They've told me that the culprit will be punished, and it won't happen again." 

_ Punished... _ Clarke thought hazily.  _ Yeah, we should probably get right on that. What was the question again?  _

"They have also said that you are eager to set the terms of a treaty we can both accept. I will lay out my terms, and you may then propose yours." Clarke nodded, barely hearing the Commander's words; she found herself entranced by Lexa's full lips, the perfect size and shape for kissing. How would they taste? How would they feel skimming down her body, setting her skin on fire? How would the teeth they concealed feel sinking into her throat?

The sudden blare of a horn abruptly punctured her reverie. This was not the same as the warhorn that had bugled the Grounders' arrival; this was harsher, higher, far more urgent. She was startled to realize that Lexa's eyes were filled with something like fear. "What is that?" Clarke said, nervousness filtering through her heat haze. "What does that mean?"

"Acid fog," the Commander said in a low, unsteady voice. "They'll call again soon to tell us how close—"

The same horn blew again, three blasts. Lexa's eyes widened.  _ "Run!" _

* * *

Lexa turned as soon as she saw the advancing billows of orange fog bearing down on them through the trees. She broke into a sprint, prepared to run full-tilt until she found shelter, but when she looked back to make sure that Clarke was doing the same, she realized that the omega was frozen, wide-eyed with fear. A sudden surge of protective instinct roared in her chest, and before she had a spare second to think, she had grabbed Clarke’s hand. All she knew was that they needed to find cover as quickly as possible. Her lungs were already tingling, and she knew that in a matter of seconds, they would begin to burn and ache as well.

She whipped around, preparing to drag Clarke after her retreating warriors, but somewhere through the blanket of fear descending over her, she realized she couldn't follow them.  _ Not with Clarke. If I take her with me, her people will assume we captured her. _ But she couldn't simply leave Clarke behind, either. Judging from the terrified look on her face, she was in no condition to escape the fog alone. If Clarke died, so did their last chance for peace.

There was only one decision she could make. She sprinted sideways through the clearing, away from both Indra's forces and Clarke's band of  _ Skaikru, _ praying that she had chosen a safe direction.

After a few moments, Clarke seemed to come back to herself. She started running properly, although Lexa still kept a tight hold on her hand. The Sky girl managed to match her pace, and they flew through the trees together. Once, Lexa dared to cast a frantic look back over her shoulder. She immediately wished she hadn't. Thick clouds of orange fog were rolling after them, close enough to send a spike of terror through her chest.  _ It's moving too fast. If we don't find cover... _

"This way," Clarke panted, tugging at her arm and taking the lead. "I know a place."

Lexa didn't waste her breath on questions. She let Clarke guide her, hopping over upturned roots and skidding down shallow slopes. Her skin began to prickle, and she felt searing heat on the back of her neck—like fire, but wet and raw. She hissed in pain, trying not to slow her pace. If she looked back again, the edges of the fog would burn her face as well.

"In here!"

At first, Lexa didn't see what Clarke was pointing at, but then her eyes fixed on a small hill.  _ No. A cave! _ There was an entrance leading underground, and she put on another burst of speed to reach it. The two of them scrambled in together, and to Lexa's surprise, they were met with a solid metal door. Clarke dropped her hand to tug on the handles, and she hurried to help.

They made it inside just in time. The door slammed shut with a loud clang, sealing them in darkness, but Lexa could still feel the slimy, burning film of the fog eating at her skin. "Strip, Clarke," she ordered in a hoarse, rasping voice, already tearing at her own clothes. "Wipe down as much of your skin as you can." A rustling sound came from beside her, and though she couldn't see, she assumed Clarke was following her instructions.

At last, she managed to fight her way free of her boots, shirt, and pants. She hesitated in removing the knife strapped to her thigh, but in the end, she tossed it on the ground with everything else. In their current situation, she sincerely doubted that Clarke was a threat to her safety.

"Is there any light?" she asked, squinting to make out the details of their surroundings. She couldn't see much of anything, although she could hear the soft shudder of Clarke's breathing somewhere to her left.

"There was a box of candles near the door the last time I came here. Give me a second." 

After a few moments of fumbling, a tiny flame flickered to life, and Lexa caught her first glimpse of Clarke's face. It was cast in shadow, but from what she could see, the omega didn't appear to be in any pain. She breathed a sigh of relief, offering Clarke a hesitant smile as a soft glow filled the room.

The Sky girl didn’t return it, her eyes meeting Lexa’s only momentarily before flicking away. Fear swirled through the usual intoxicating cloud that surrounded her, and at first, the Commander couldn’t understand what was causing it—they had escaped the acid fog, after all. Lexa let out a quiet sigh. Her first concern had to be making sure that their refuge was safe, not trying to parse the emotions of strange girls from the sky. They needed to do their best to illuminate the room, and that was going to require a lot more candles.

When it became apparent that Clarke was not going to take the initiative, Lexa took a hesitant step in her direction and reached out for the box. The omega let out a little gasp and flinched away, and Lexa’s stomach dropped.  _ Me. She’s afraid of me.  _ Lexa knew that Clarke’s response shouldn’t affect her as strongly as it did—she was an unmated alpha, and an enemy leader besides—but she couldn’t help the pang of hurt that shot through her.

“It’s all right,” she said, keeping her voice as calm and quiet as she could, holding up her empty hands. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

Clarke just looked at her with wide eyes for a moment. Just when Lexa thought the  _ Skayon  _ might be frozen, she let out a shaky breath. “I know.” Now it was Lexa’s eyes that went wide, and they went wider still at Clarke’s next words. “I trust you.”

Something woke in Lexa then, something that had long lain dormant: a powerful instinct to protect, to shelter, to keep from harm. She cared for her people and was more than ready to do anything it took to protect them, whether that meant laying down her life or living with hard choices so that they wouldn’t have to. But this… this was different. This was the instinct of her inner alpha to protect those it cared for most intimately, those it saw as  _ hers. Clarke is not yours,  _ Lexa tried to tell it, but it wouldn’t listen. It threw its head back and  _ roared. _

Belatedly, she realized that the awakening of her instincts must have brought an accompanying shift in her scent. She took a quick step back from the omega, but it was too late. Clarke gasped again, and even in the dim, flickering light of the candle, Lexa could see that her pupils had gone huge and dark. An answering surge of arousal rose from where Clarke stood and hooked its claws into her, making her sway towards the intoxicating scent. She did her best to resist, willing herself to step back, but all she succeeded in doing was locking her knees. She could feel her clit swelling in response to the pull, and she thanked the stars that it was still so dark.

A moment later, Clarke seemed to return to herself, giving herself a brisk shake and offering a candle from the box. Lexa took it gingerly, careful not to touch the Sky girl’s skin. She could already feel its heat even while they were standing several inches apart. When Clarke leaned closer, offering the first candle so she could light her own from its flame, Lexa saw that the  _ Skayon’s  _ hand was shaking. “Perhaps,” she said, “I should do that.”

What she knew of Clarke suggested that the omega wouldn’t give in without at least a bit of pushback, but to her surprise, the girl handed her the box without protest. “Probably a good idea.”

Gratefully, Lexa busied herself mapping out the bunker with candles, illuminating them one from the next in a string until the entire space was blanketed in soft, flickering light. It was sparse, like most other examples of such places she had visited, containing only a pair of rusty-looking bunk beds, a few dusty shelves, and a wooden desk. She imagined that its valuable assets had been picked clean by scavengers long ago, but to her delight, she wasn’t entirely correct. As she made her way to the center of the room, looking for a few more places that would hold candles, her bare feet sank into something richly soft. It was such a sharp contrast from the cold, damp stone of the rest of the bunker that it made her suck in a breath as she looked down. The pattern was faded with dust and age, but Lexa could tell that it had once been a rug of some magnificence.

Grinning, Lexa turned to inform the  _ Skayon _ of her find, and her heart nearly stopped. No longer shrouded in the bunker’s darkness, Clarke’s hair glimmered in the candlelight, flowing down her shoulders like liquid gold. Lexa was unable to stop her eyes from following its progress around the fine curve of her face, to where it contrasted with the pale sheen of her skin. And there was so much of that on display, she couldn’t help but notice. Her gaze flickered helplessly lower, drinking in the smooth, flat plane of Clarke’s stomach, the generous curves of her hips. She was dimly aware that she was staring and knew that she should stop, but she was captivated.

"Lexa?"

For a moment, the sound of Clarke's lips wrapping around her name sounded like the sweetest music. The corners of Lexa's mouth tipped into a smile, and the points of her cheeks blazed hot. She blinked slowly, and once more, her gaze roamed up and down the vulnerable expanse of Clarke's body without her permission. Although the thin white material of Clarke's undergarments concealed the tips of her breasts and the treasure between her legs, Lexa's mind was more than capable of filling in the gaps—and it did so with great detail.

_ Pink, _ she decided, breathing heavily as she studied the hard points of Clarke's nipples. They were already poking through the sheer material that covered them, plump and stiff and practically begging for her tongue to curl around them.  _ And surely her hair is the same pale gold all the way down. _ A groan almost broke in her throat as her greedy gaze fixed on Clarke's underwear. It was difficult to make out in the dim light, but she was almost certain she could spot a dark stain spreading across the front. Being trapped in the bunker had only enhanced Clarke's natural scent, and it made her mouth water.

She would have felt guiltier, but Clarke's stare was just as intense as her own. The omega's eyes fixed directly on her face, but didn't remain there for long. They began a slow descent, taking in every detail, and Lexa felt her own nipples tighten under the scrutiny. Her blush burned even hotter as Clarke's hungry stare flicked down to her abdominal muscles, lingering there for a moment before moving lower still—low enough to notice the considerable swell between her legs.

Lexa's lips moved, trying to form some kind of explanation for her traitorous body's reactions, but no words came out. All she managed was a low, desperate groan that didn't even make it all the way past the lump in her throat before cracking. Her clit had already started extending, forming a much thicker shaft, but as Clarke's eyes drank her in, it swelled to its full size in moments. A ripple of need pulsed along her length, and judging by the warmth she felt, her underwear would soon have a stain as well.

She dug her nails into her palms, trying to regain control, but what happened next completely undid her. Clarke  _ whimpered _ , releasing a noise so full of need that Lexa's whole body shuddered. If she had possessed any remaining influence over her body, she would have surged forward, would have taken Clarke up in her arms and silenced that beautiful sound with a kiss. No. Better. She would run her hands along Clarke's sides, her hips, every inch of her legs and crush their lips together until the omega's whimpers spilled directly into her mouth...

Suddenly, Lexa realized what she was doing. Her mind was rushing on ahead of her, taunting her with thoughts of what she couldn't have. She gasped in surprise and shame, hurrying back to the opposite corner of the bunker in a very undignified way. It didn't matter what she wanted. She needed to stay as far away from Clarke as possible until it was safe for them to go outside.

"Lexa..." Clarke murmured her name again, and this time, it was tinged with clear disappointment. The omega took a step to follow her, but Lexa held up her hand, deliberately looking away.

_ "Hod op." _ When Clarke's forehead furrowed in confusion, she stammered out a translation. "Wait. I... you must not come any closer. Your scent is... distracting."

Once again, Clarke's eyes darted down to the obvious tent at the front of her underwear. "I can see that." She seemed to realize exactly what she had said, and her cheeks flushed red. "Um, I mean... it's not your fault. I was afraid this would happen, but I didn't know we'd get stuck in here."

"We won't be for long," Lexa said, trying to sound more confident than she felt. "The fog never lasts more than a few hours. As long as we keep our distance from each other, I can... restrain myself." Her instincts howled in protest, but she shoved them down with all the force she could muster.  _ I am Heda. I am always in control. _

"Okay," Clarke murmured at last. There was still a hint of longing in her deep blue eyes, and Lexa hurried to look away. If she stared too long, she feared she would be sucked back into the whirlpool that had almost dragged her under. "I'll stay over here."

"Very well." Lexa turned away in an effort to resist temptation, bending down to sit on the rug she had discovered. At least it was comfortable...  _ Not comfortable enough.  _ Simply moving was enough to make her body ache, especially when she was moving away from Clarke. But she had no other choice. With a sigh, she tucked her knees against her chest and waited. Resisting her desires was her only option. That, at least, was something she was accustomed to.

Over the next few hours, Lexa found her resolve sorely tested indeed. At least, she thought it was hours—in the lightlessness of the bunker, it might as well have been days. The smell of Clarke’s heat utterly suffused the air, making her breath feel heavy and thick in her lungs. If she had thought Clarke’s scent was intoxicating before, it had now become inescapable, a constant throb at the base of her skull reminding her that there was an omega barely four paces away, aching with the desire to be filled and fucked and knotted—

Lexa clamped her eyes shut, gritting her teeth to keep from snarling. If this was hard for her, it had to be twice as difficult for Clarke. Darting a glance at the Sky girl, she saw that she had started to sweat lightly. Their eyes met, and Lexa was filled with a powerful surge of want. Clarke’s lips parted, her pupils dilating—and Lexa tore her gaze away again.

She couldn’t help but recall Costia’s heat. The drive to mate had been just as powerful, but it hadn’t had the same urgency. There had been a sense that they were young, they were in love, and they had all the time in the world. At the first signals of her heat’s onset, they had travelled to a hunting lodge in the mountains that was maintained for the Commander’s use. They had enjoyed exploring each other’s bodies on every surface, in every way, and even made love under the stars, among the wildflowers. It had been a perfect culmination of all that they felt for each other, and she still carried the bittersweet reminder of the promise they’d made when they’d chosen to bond.

This, though…this was utterly different. She barely knew Clarke, and yet something in the  _ Skayon  _ called to her alpha on a primal level, effortlessly cutting through the tightly-held layers of control she had spent years carefully cultivating. Her skin felt like it was burning, as though they had yet to leave the acid fog, as though the only cure would be to press every inch of it to Clarke’s that she could reach—

A buzzing hiss crackled through the stillness of the bunker, making both of them jump. Lexa tensed, searching the dimness for a threat, an enemy, anything that could have made that noise. It came again and she managed to pinpoint its source as their discarded pile of clothing. Clarke was already on her feet, darting across the floor and crouching to rifle through their garments. Lexa heard her let out a soft noise of pain and winced in sympathy. The fog’s remnants were likely still clinging to the fabric.

She had just risen to her feet and taken a hesitant step toward Clarke, prepared to offer her help, when the Sky girl let out a soft cry of triumph and held aloft a buzzing black box that Lexa recognized, after a moment, as a radio. It kept on hissing and spitting as Clarke frantically fiddled with its dials and knobs. After a few minutes of muttered Skaikru swearing, the unintelligible noise resolved into a crackling rendition of what Lexa recognized as the voice of the male alpha who had accompanied Clarke to their rendezvous.

“—lo? Come in, anyo...nyone seen Clarke?”

“Bellamy!” Clarke shouted into the radio’s microphone. “Can you hear me? Is everyone okay?”

For a few more minutes, the radio only hissed and crackled. Lexa could smell Clarke’s frustration mounting, could see it in the tension of her shoulders. She was torn between wanting to step away and give her space, and a desire to step closer and try to rub the aggravation from her muscles. She only realized that she had started reaching out when the radio buzzed again. Cheeks burning, she snatched her hand back.

“—where safe. Grounders got us to a… in the woods... gonna ride out the fog. Where—you?”

“In a bunker,” Clarke said, and then, after a moment, “Finn should know where it is.” Lexa’s eyes narrowed as Clarke’s scent took on a tinge of embarrassment, and she remembered how protective the beta boy had been of her, even in the face of Lexa’s clear dominance. Her lip curled in a silent snarl.

“—right. When the… stops, we’ll come... you, all right?”

“Yes,” Clarke fairly shouted, eyes shining with relief. “We’ll stay here and wait for you.”

Another voice replaced Bellamy’s, one that made Lexa’s snarl deepen. “Wait,  _ we?  _ Who’s  _ we?” _

Clarke shut her eyes in annoyance. “Yes, Finn. Lexa and I—”

The radio erupted in an incomprehensible cacophony of crackling, filling the bunker with noise. Clarke struggled with the dials, attempting to reduce the volume, but then let out a hiss of pain. There must have still been acid somewhere on the device, Lexa realized—but as Clarke pulled her hand back to suck on her burned finger, she lost her grip on the radio, fumbled it, and missed. The device hit the floor and shattered into a constellation of wiring and small black plastic pieces.  _ “Fuck!” _

After a moment’s hesitation, watching the Sky girl nurse her hurt finger and glare murder at the broken radio, Lexa reached out a tentative hand to brush gently along the omega’s shoulder. She meant to offer comfort, but her skin burned where it touched Clarke’s, and she was reminded instantly of the situation they were in, and  _ just how close _ she stood. “That is... unfortunate,” she said shakily, “but at least it seems that our people have found shelter together, and will be able to find us once the fog has cleared.”

Clarke’s only response was a nod. Her eyes remained on the floor, but it was clear from the way they flickered that she was debating something fiercely in her head. Trepidation warred with desire in Lexa’s stomach, prompting her to softly say, “Are you all right?” When Clarke again declined to respond, Lexa stepped closer, brow furrowing in a frown. “Clarke?”

A sudden surge in the pheromones pouring from the omega were Lexa’s only warning before Clarke whirled around, seized the back of her neck, and pulled her into a searing kiss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter, things get smutty. ;P


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All right, you thirsty thirsty sinners...enjoy part one of the smut! Don't say we didn't warn you ;P
> 
> [](http://s558.photobucket.com/user/calfaolan/media/green78%20-%20twon%20cover_zpskkb485uj.jpg.html)

Clarke stared down at the broken remains of the radio in disbelief, doing everything in her power to avoid Lexa’s eyes. For the last few hours, she had been locked in a furious battle with herself. Torn between her fear for her friends’ safety and the heat searing through her system, she had been practically immobilized, pressing herself into a corner. The cool scrape of the cement was the only thing that had kept her grounded as tension mounted in the air, making the bunker feel like the focus of a brewing storm.

When the radio had crackled to life and she’d heard Bellamy’s voice, cool relief had flooded through her body, finally giving her the power to move. It infuriated her that she had dropped the fucking thing, but at least she’d gotten confirmation that her friends weren’t charred, twisted lumps of flesh and bone. But while that made her almost want to cry with relief, her other problem was brought back into sharp focus by the presence of the Commander so close behind her. Close enough, Clarke thought, that if she turned around, she'd practically be in the alpha’s arms, looking up into clear green eyes.

 _Or not so clear,_ she thought, remembering the way they'd changed. They had gone from the green of a spring meadow to the near-black of deep pine woods when they'd last been so close. She was abruptly reminded that Lexa was touching her, and was nearly lost in the way the gentle weight of her hand sent heat spilling through her entire body, pooling in her stomach—and lower. If her shorts hadn’t already been ruined, they certainly were now.

Clarke shut her eyes tight, trying to force down the need thundering through her body so she could make herself back away. She knew she should retreat to her corner and focus on surviving her heat unmated, but the longer she struggled to master her instincts, the harder it became to remember why she should. Desire had suffused her entire being, thrumming in her veins and making her muscles hum and quiver. She became conscious again of an all-encompassing _ache_ deep within her, and her focus narrowed sharply to her need to be filled, fucked, claimed. Her last coherent thought before she surrendered to that need was, _Fuck it. No, fuck_ me.

Less than a second later, Lexa's lips were on hers, warm and rough and demanding. The scent she had almost drowned in before suddenly had a taste as well, and Clarke's knees threatened to buckle as Lexa's tongue slid against hers, filling her mouth with the flavor of raw need. At first, she thought the Commander had kissed her, but somewhere through her haze, she realized that her fingers were threaded tight through Lexa's braided hair, holding fast to the back of her neck. _She_ had been the one to drag them together, and she didn't have the willpower to pull back.

Soon, she had stopped caring completely. Her entire world had narrowed to the smooth glide of Lexa's mouth and the blazing warmth where their skin touched. Lexa's hands curled around the flare of her hips, and Clarke trembled as their bodies pressed flush. The alpha's figure seemed slender from a distance, but up close, her lean frame was packed with powerful sheets of muscle, and her grip was solid steel. Just the thought of all that strength falling apart beneath her hands, against her mouth, _inside_ of her, was nearly overwhelming. The heavy throb between her legs became an aching, hollow emptiness, and the claws of desire hooked deeper into her belly.

Kissing wasn't enough. She needed to be filled, and fast. With the last bit of restraint she had left, Clarke tore her lips away from Lexa's, scanning the bunker for a suitable place. Her eyes fell on the rusted pair of bunk beds, but before she could tug Lexa toward them, she found herself being walked backwards. The next thing she knew, her shoulders hit something solid—the cold, unyielding surface of the concrete wall. She stiffened with the realization that she was trapped, pinned beneath Lexa's weight, but the last thing she wanted to do was struggle free. Rather than frightening her, the loss of control was intoxicating.

She whimpered as Lexa's hot mouth latched onto her throat, seeking out the tender place beneath her jaw. The alpha's blunt teeth didn't sink into her skin, but the way they grazed against her pulse point had her gasping raggedly beside Lexa's ear. Her heart lurched, and the next shuddering wave that washed over her wasn't just desire. _Wait. Is she going to...?_ But Lexa didn't bite down. She started sucking instead, and Clarke wasn't sure whether the fluttering feeling in her chest was relief or unexpected disappointment. She didn't pause to analyze it. Instead, she raked her nails down Lexa's back until they reached the band that bound her breasts.

Her fingers were fumbling too badly to peel it off, but Lexa's efforts weren't much better. A growl of frustration rumbled against her shoulder, and she hissed as Lexa's fingertips met the underwire of her bra, searching for a way to unfasten it. Clarke found words through sheer desperation. "It's in the back..." She arched away from the wall and further into Lexa's body, trying to offer the Commander's hands an opening to slip around her torso, but the second she shifted, another shiver of need raced down her spine. The new position pressed their pelvises closer together, and she could feel something warm and firm straining against her hip.

Lexa made a low noise of triumph, and Clarke felt the fastenings of her bra come loose, but she barely noticed as the straps slipped down her shoulders. She was completely focused on the thick shaft trapped between their bodies. The outline was clear even through the fabric of Lexa's damp shorts, and her inner walls rippled with greedy anticipation. She could already imagine how it would feel when it _finally_ slid between her legs, stretching her open, filling her up...

_When. Not if. We're really going to do this. I'm going to let her do this._

The thought of Lexa laying claim to her should have been terrifying, but instead, it brought only more need. She needed Lexa to have her, longed to be taken with every fiber of her being, and even stranger still, she wanted to have Lexa as well. Her heat craved it, and her body demanded it. She ran her hands along the smooth expanse of Lexa's back until she found the waistband of the alpha's shorts. This time, her fingers obeyed her commands. She yanked them down, too impatient to wait any longer.

A sudden surge of Lexa’s hips had Clarke pressed back against the wall in an instant. Released from its confines, Lexa’s cock pressed right between Clarke’s legs, rubbing along her soaked slit. She let out a strangled moan— _finally,_ she was going to be filled, the aching emptiness inside her soothed—but the moan turned into a needy whine when the heated length halted just short of her entrance, stopped by the ruined fabric of her underwear. Lexa gave another pump of her hips, growling when she failed to sink inside yet again, and all Clarke could do was clutch at her shoulders. She knew she should strip as well, but she couldn’t find the coordination. Denied relief, the emptiness inside of her swelled into a roar, drowning out all her other thoughts.

Lexa’s hips jerked again and again, the progress of her shaft made nearly frictionless by just how utterly soaked Clarke’s shorts were. Just when she thought she might go mad with frustration, one of the Commander’s hands left Clarke’s hip where it was pressing her to the wall and raked along her thigh, dragging it up around her waist. The new angle of her thrusts made Clarke’s despairing whine cut off in a gasp. With her knee hooked around Lexa’s hip, the alpha’s cock was trapped even more tightly against her. The underside of the shaft managed to grind against her clit, making need sear through her body.

Desperately, Clarke tilted her hips to keep that delicious pressure, to get a little more of the sensation. More wetness poured from within her, further enabling the cock’s slick drag. Soon she was a mess of needy moans and gasps, embarrassingly close despite the fact that Lexa wasn’t even in her. She was aware of the low growls thundering through the alpha’s chest, the harsh breaths against the skin of her neck, but the majority of her attention seemed to have migrated to where the hot, hard point of her clit pulsed and strained against Lexa’s cock.

Just when she thought she might go insane with the need for more friction, more pressure, _anything,_ Lexa’s other hand shot up to palm her breast. A few rough strokes against the tight bud of her nipple, and Clarke was gone, hoarsely screaming her release into the still, muggy air.

The sharp, bright peak of her orgasm bought her a moment of relief from the aching pressure inside of her, but it also brought a modicum of clarity: it wasn’t enough. It wouldn’t be enough until she had been filled, fucked, claimed. She needed Lexa in her. Struggling to catch her breath, she realized that the alpha had managed to stop the frantic motion of her hips. Lexa sagged against her, inadvertently pinning her to the wall, every muscle in her body tense as banded steel. Clarke was suddenly hyper-aware of the throb of Lexa’s cock against her soaked slit, and desire swelled in her anew.

But although the alpha had been content to let Clarke ride her shaft to an embarrassingly swift and shallow orgasm, it was soon clear that she was not going to get off so easily again. A low rumble that seemed to vibrate through Lexa’s entire body was her only warning before the Commander let go of her thigh and breast, took hold of Clarke’s shorts, and ripped the soaked fabric off her.

As good as Lexa’s cock had felt through her underwear, it was nothing compared to the way its length felt with no barrier in between. Clarke keened, throwing her head back to expose her throat as she felt it rub against her aching, swollen folds, bumping up against the hard ridge of her clit, before pausing at her entrance—and sliding past. She couldn’t help letting out another whine—this close to being filled, her desperation had pushed her far beyond words. But though the alpha’s hips jerked away again, she managed to hold herself back. The unexpectedly gentle press of a calloused thumb against her cheek made her eyes flutter open, and then Lexa was tilting her head back down to take her mouth in a rough, needy kiss.

“Clarke,” Lexa gasped between nips and sucks of her bottom lip that threatened to steal her breath. The alpha’s harsh exhalation of her name had the air of a question, but no more words followed. Clarke forced herself to focus on the Commander, on the pleading, dark green gaze that threatened to swallow her up, and was nearly overwhelmed by the force of need she saw there. “Clarke,” Lexa said again, practically pleading, and gave a short, involuntary jerk of her hips. All at once, the omega understood what was being asked. Though she was beyond words herself, she was able to give Lexa a sharp nod.

Her permission was all Lexa required. The alpha's hips gave a selfish snap, and Clarke _howled_ as the blunt tip nestled against her opening finally started sinking forward. It was a rough, jerking process. She was dripping with desire, but Lexa's shaft was thicker than anything she had ever taken before. A whine tore from her throat as the broadest part of the head nudged inside, and for a moment, she couldn't draw in breath—but Lexa was insistent, and her body yielded. Her muscles relaxed, and several inches slid into her at once.

The fullness was everything she wanted. For one blissful moment, she was content at last, soothed by the comforting stretch. Her chosen mate was in her, and a sigh of relief slipped from between her shaking lips. Then, it slowly dawned on her that Lexa had yet to come. The Commander's hips rocked insistently against hers, and when Clarke squeezed down, finally taking Lexa's cock all the way to the hilt, she felt a rippling pulse race along its length. It began to pound inside her, and her inner walls twitched sharply in response. She didn't just need Lexa inside her. She needed Lexa's release, needed to feel the hot splash of the alpha's come rushing into her until she couldn't hold any more.

"Lexa," she hissed, hooking her knee tighter around the alpha's waist, urging her to drive deeper. "Please, I—"

Clarke never got to finish her sentence. Lexa drew back, pulling out just enough to make her whimper, and then plunged forward without a hint of hesitation. The moment their bodies slammed together, Clarke was lost. Her words deserted her again, and she tipped her head forward, resting it against Lexa's shoulder. More of the alpha's scent filled her nose, and she gulped it in desperately, letting her mouth wander along Lexa's neck. She didn't mean to latch on, but it happened instinctively. Lexa's skin tasted like salt and sex, and the flavor was too tempting to resist. It wasn't until she reached a ridged, uneven place that she realized Lexa's throat wasn't bare. She traced the lines with her tongue, exploring, trying to understand.

_Wait. A scar? Is she already mated? But then how can she—_

Lexa stiffened, but instead of stopping, the attention seemed to offer her fresh encouragement. Her hips pumped harder, faster, and Clarke moaned into the crook of Lexa's shoulder, unable to stifle the cries each thrust forced from her mouth. She forgot all about the faded bite mark beneath her lips and concentrated on the rising tide of need within her—need that was swiftly gathering into a storm she couldn't control. The frantic rhythm of Lexa's thrusts demanded her complete attention, and the full, swollen place against her front wall throbbed each time the head of Lexa's cock battered against it.

Soon, all she could do was shiver and clutch at the shifting muscles of Lexa's back. Lexa was rutting into her over and over again, hitting every sensitive spot, grinding into the aching bud of her clit... It took a moment for Clarke to realize just what was rubbing against her, but when she did, she tensed. The base of Lexa's shaft had begun to swell, and she could feel the start of a knot pressing into her. It began to nudge at her opening, not quite asking for entrance, and a shudder ran through her, equal parts apprehension and anticipation. Lexa was already filling her in ways she hadn't even imagined possible. She wasn't sure how she was going to take something even thicker.

Her body had no such reservations. Another surge of warmth pooled between her legs, and more of her own wetness slid out around the base of Lexa's shaft. The excess ran down her inner thighs, coating both her and Lexa in a layer of sticky heat; on the next thrust, the top of Lexa's knot pushed in a little further. The stretch burned—she had never been so _full_ —but the emptiness within her hurt worse. She wanted the rest. She wanted everything. Desperation returned her voice, and she let her head fall back against the wall, nails raking sharply down the alpha’s arms. "Lexa... oh God, Lexa, all the way, please— _please_ fill me..."

She held her breath for what seemed like an eternity, trembling as she waited for Lexa to claim her completely, but instead, the alpha's hips stilled. She stopped thrusting, and Clarke let out a cry of disappointment. She stared into Lexa's eyes, hoping it would help, but what she found there only confused her further. There was a noticeable hint of fear behind the glaze of desire, and Clarke's stomach dropped. Lexa's cock was pulsing inside her, the knot heavy and straining, but the fullness and the flood she so desperately needed never came. Instead, Lexa began to slide out, gripping her hip tight to keep her from following.

Clarke tried to form a 'no', but the painful loss made it impossible to speak once again. Her lips moved soundlessly, and her inner walls clenched, searching for the thickness that had been taken from her. All she could manage was a choked sob. She was exposed. Empty. Lexa wasn't in her. _Lexa wasn't in her_ , and she had been so close. _They_ had been so close...

" _Klark,_ _ai..._ " Lexa's lashes fluttered, and she lowered her eyes, her entire body locking up tight. "... _ai biyo moba, ai nou na ge..._ "

Clarke gave Lexa a pleading whine at the confusing words, but it didn't do any good. A split second later, a powerful gush of heat—heat that should have been inside her—burst from the head of Lexa's cock, spilling through her folds. The rhythmic spurts seemed endless, running over her clit, surging up to splash against her lower belly, feeding the hot rivers of wetness that wound down her thighs. Her inner walls pulsed and shivered, clutching at nothing, desperately trying to take the throbbing shaft back inside, but she couldn't even move her hips. Lexa held them tight, and she could only jerk hard into the alpha's calloused hands, tears of disappointment tracking down her cheeks.

As she watched the alpha’s powerful body shudder in the grip of her orgasm, Clarke’s desperation turned to jealousy, and then hardened into determination. _I have no idea why the fuck she pulled out, but there is no way I’m gonna let her do it again_.

***

Lexa could feel her release approaching like a flash flood, pressure building in the base of her cock and racing along her shaft as her knot started to inflate. Even though it somewhat curtailed her movements, preventing her from hilting herself within Clarke entirely at every stroke, just pressing it against Clarke’s entrance felt marvelous.

But soon, that wasn’t enough. Every thrust punched a grunt from deep within her, and the desperate moans Clarke answered with and the way she was clenching around Lexa’s shaft were driving her wild. Her instincts were snarling at her to exert more pressure, to begin the steady grind that would seat her knot all the way inside the omega, so that when she flooded Clarke with her release, none of it would escape. She would fill and claim Clarke utterly, her belly would swell with Lexa’s come and, one day, her pups…

Lexa’s eyes snapped open from where they had been clenched tight in pleasure. _Ah,_ jok _— pups_? Her hips stuttered and slowed, prompting an agonized whine from Clarke. The omega’s inner walls fluttered around her shaft as if in protest, and Lexa couldn’t help giving another pump of her hips, prompting a satisfied moan. When she looked down, she realized why. Clarke had already started opening for her, was beginning to take the top of her knot inside.

It felt so good that Lexa choked back a howl, but she knew instantly that they could not do this. She could not do this…not to Clarke. _Spirit give me strength._ It took every ounce of will she had within her to pull her cock from the slick, clinging silk of Clarke’s channel, but she managed it. A second later, every muscle in her body tightened as the unbearable pressure that had been building inside of her finally released. The ribbons of come unfurling from her shaft to paint Clarke’s belly and thighs were too much to watch, and so she threw her head back and shouted her pleasure to the ceiling.

The moment Lexa’s eyes opened, she knew she was in trouble. Clarke’s gaze was searing into hers, lip curled into a silent snarl. She tried desperately to divine the reason for the omega’s fury, but her mind was still clouded with the aftermath of her _strikwan_ and the continued pulse of Clarke’s heat. To Lexa’s complete astonishment, Clarke’s hands set on her shoulders and shoved.

Ordinarily, that sort of behavior from anyone would have prompted a swift and brutal reaction. But she was not Heda right now; she was barely even Lexa, and all she could manage was a questioning whine before Clarke pushed her again. “What the fuck did you do that for?” she nearly shouted. Her words rang like clashing bells in Lexa’s ears, dizzying her further. She tried to figure out some sort of answer that would mollify the furious omega, but her mind remained stubbornly blank.

Pushing herself up from the wall against which Lexa had kept her pinned, Clarke began pacing forward. The purpose and determination in her movements and the powerful throb of her heat were enough to drive Lexa stumbling back. Soon, her rear fetched up against the corner of something hard and flat—the nearby desk. When Clarke shoved at Lexa’s shoulders again, forcing her to sit, she realized the omega’s purpose. Her hands shot out to grip Clarke’s waist, holding the Sky girl back from mounting her cock and riding her until she’d finished what she started.

Clarke’s eyes flashed dangerously and she let out a low growl, but Lexa’s head had cleared enough to remember why they shouldn’t do this. “ _Hod op, Klark_ ,” she gasped out, then, when the omega showed no signs of understanding, mustered her _Gonasleng_.

“Clarke, wait. Let me explain.”

“Then explain,” Clarke snapped. The hands on her shoulders gripped tighter, nails digging in, and Lexa allowed the brief pain to focus her.

“I know what your instincts must be telling you,” Lexa said, struggling to keep her voice as calm and steady as possible. Her release had helped lift a little of the fog around her mind, but it was still no easy feat when she knew what pleasure she was denying herself, could feel the heat and need radiating from Clarke’s body. Swallowing, she mustered herself, pushing back vivid memories of how good it had felt to sink into the omega’s wet, welcoming heat… _Shof op, branwada! Focus_!

Clarke raised an eyebrow, clearly waiting for her to continue. Lexa growled at herself quietly. “With relations between our people so unsettled, I could not take the risk that…releasing inside you might…” She stuttered to a halt, feeling her cheeks burn under Clarke’s increasingly amused gaze as she struggled to get the words out. Eventually, however, the Sky girl took pity on her.

“It's all right, Lexa,” she said. Her voice was still tight with need, but there was a sweet undercurrent to it that called to the alpha to pull Clarke flush against herself and nudge up under her chin to breathe in her scent at the source. “I'm not going to get pregnant.”

Lexa stared at her, half-dazed. “But…you're in heat. How…?”

“On the Ark, all of the omegas and female betas get implants as soon as we first present,” Clarke explained. “They block the hormones that allow us to get pregnant until they’re removed.”

Lexa was having trouble making sense of Clarke’s words, or any words, in truth. Clarke seemed to understand this, because she laughed, pushing against Lexa’s grip until she was pressed against the alpha’s body. At the first touch of skin to skin, Lexa huffed out a sigh. Holding Clarke back was one of the hardest things she'd ever done, but now that they were touching again something felt like it had been made right.

“That means,” Clarke said, her voice lowering alluringly, “that we’re going to try this again. And this time, you're going to fuck me properly.”

Suddenly, she found herself being pushed forcefully onto her back. Clarke moved to straddle her lap, and at the first brush of the omega’s dripping sex along her length, Lexa’s eyes rolled back in her head. _I’m not going to survive this, am I?_ she wondered. She had her answer a second later when her eyes snapped open: Clarke had started a slow, steady grind, making her cock twitch with need. Lexa groaned, letting her head fall back to hit the table. _Definitely not._  
  
Despite the apparent tease, Clarke didn't torment her for long. The shifting of her hips became impatient, demanding, and Lexa choked on another thick gasp as the angle of Clarke's pelvis moved over hers. It was a little painful to lose the slippery warmth that had been dragging along the underside of her shaft, but when it moved to the head of her cock instead, lining up with the tip, the sensation more than made up for it. Her hands wavered, torn between grasping Clarke's hips and circling the edge of the desk, but in the end, she chose the safer option. She had to hold on to something, and after the disappointment she had forced the omega to endure, surrendering the pace was the least she could do.

Clarke had other ideas. The Sky girl's hands took hers, guiding them to where they should have been all along. Lexa found a proper grip, preparing to pull the blazing heat she felt fluttering against her the rest of the way down, but Clarke was one step ahead of her. She started sinking on her own, bracing one hand in the middle of Lexa's chest for balance. "Oh God," she rasped, her voice cracking with need. "Lexa, _fill me_."

In her current position, Lexa couldn't do much more than lift her hips and hope for mercy, but she did her best. She pulled, slowly but firmly, helping Clarke accept the first several inches of her length. It was nearly too much. A groan burst from her lips as soon as Clarke's satin walls began to swallow her, and a sharp pulse raced down from the dripping head of her cock to the swollen ache of her knot. She hadn't known it was possible to feel so full, especially after coming once already, but her first climax had barely dulled the edge of her need at all. Spilling her release across Clarke's thighs was a poor substitute for the clinging muscles clasping around the top half of her shaft.

"Trying," she grunted, forcing the word out through gritted teeth. Against the wall, she had been able to rut with a fluid rhythm, but Clarke was even tighter from below, and she didn't have any leverage. Fortunately, Clarke had plenty of freedom to move on top of her. The omega began rocking, rising and falling, swiveling her hips in ways that made Lexa's body quake and her vision blur. It was just as blissful as it had been the first time—no, _better—_ and soon, she couldn't speak at all. She could only hold onto Clarke's hips with everything she had.

It didn't take long for her to lose herself in the strokes Clarke had chosen. Her instincts screamed at her to reverse their positions, to summon her strength and flip Clarke onto her back so she could seal their bodies together and finish what she had started, but it was already far too late. Her cock throbbed, straining each time Clarke took her in, aching whenever the warmth around her receded. She drove up sharply with the limited range of motion she possessed, pressing her knot against the tightness that was Clarke's entrance, but once more, it didn't sink inside. Instead, Clarke went rigid above her, shaking and stiffening and tensing as her inner walls drew impossibly tight.

Lexa knew what was about to happen—she could sense the desire pouring from Clarke's body, could taste it even without her lips on Clarke's sweat-sheened skin—but it didn't quite prepare her for the raw power of the omega's release when it hit. Clarke's head tipped back, and the sight of her mouth hanging open in ecstasy as she howled to the ceiling nearly carried Lexa away as well. She trembled, watching in awe as a flood of heat rushed out around the base of her shaft, running over her knot and spilling onto her stomach.

"No—Lexa, _please..._ "

At first, Lexa didn't realize why Clarke was whimpering with disappointment in the midst of her release. The hard ripples of her inner walls only grew more powerful with each wave of her peak, and Lexa could feel the swollen bud of the omega's clit twitching where it was trapped between them. But one look into Clarke's eyes, and she understood. The desperate, shivering woman on top of her wouldn't be satisfied with any amount of pleasure until she had been filled—until they were tied together.

The thought alone was almost enough to make Lexa follow her over the edge. The way Clarke was squeezing her length, the sight of the omega’s body trembling above hers, the desperate edge to her voice as she keened for fulfillment in the grip of empty pleasure brought the pressure she could feel building in her shaft and her knot roaring to unbearable heights. But she gritted her teeth and resisted, even though it nearly made her pass out. Although she knew Clarke wouldn’t get pregnant, if she knotted the Sky girl, it would be nearly impossible to keep from biting her and bonding herself to the omega indelibly. All she could do for Clarke in this case was give her as much pleasure as possible, and hope that it would be enough.

Taking a firmer grip on Clarke’s hips, she began directing the omega’s thrusts, pushing her up several inches off her cock and then slamming her back down again until their hips met. She was hit with a fresh wave of Clarke’s arousal at her forcefulness, as if her sharp cries of pleasure wouldn’t have been enough to tell Lexa that the omega was relishing her sudden loss of control. The rate at which Clarke was fluttering around her told her that the Sky girl was close, and Lexa braced herself, but to her astonishment Clarke didn’t come. She looked up to see the omega glaring down at her. “Oh no you don't,” she said between clenched teeth. “If I come you're coming with me.”

Clarke squeezed down deliberately around her shaft, making the already powerful pressure there nearly double. _“Jok!”_ Lexa cried out, her hips giving an involuntary jerk; Clarke answered with a satisfied moan. The alpha’s entire body shook with the desire to pump up into the omega as hard as she could, to push her knot all the way into Clarke’s channel and tie them together as she filled the Sky girl with her release, but she managed to hold off by the skin of her teeth. When she realized that Lexa had managed to avoid coming, Clarke let out a whine, collapsing against her chest and panting with frustrated need.

The sound of the omega’s despair snapped something in Lexa, something she'd been struggling to keep at bay since she'd first caught Clarke’s scent on the bridge. She kept tight control over her emotions, the things that made her Lexa; she kept an even tighter grip on her instincts, the primal part of her that made her an alpha. Both of them had to submit to her sacred duty as Heda. But listening to Clarke’s desperation drove the alpha inside her wild with the instinct to mate and fuck and claim the omega. The final straw for her control was the Sky girl begging, “Please, Lexa, fuck me, _harder,_ knot me—”

With a feral roar, Lexa surged up and off the desk and bore Clarke to the ground, right onto the plush carpet. Ordinarily she might be concerned about whether she'd hurt the Sky girl, but at this point she was past caring—and so was Clarke, if the wetness that rushed out to soak the rug beneath her was any indication. Lexa knelt between her legs and ran her fingers along Clarke’s slit before coating her still-hard cock with the flood. The omega moaned, writhing desperately beneath her, but Lexa’s other hand had an iron grip on her hip, pinning her.

Spreading the omega’s legs even further and urging them to wrap around her hips, she lined up the head of her cock with Clarke’s entrance and then snapped her hips forward, setting a punishing pace. It was clearly appreciated, if the exaltations Clarke was shouting to the ceiling were any indication, but at this point Lexa was beyond caring. The only thought in her mind was to mate Clarke and claim her with her knot.

“Lexa, _please!”_ Clarke yelled again, raking her nails down the alpha’s back and making her shiver. “Please, Commander, I need you to claim me, make me yours—”

The sound of her title falling from Clarke’s lips made the last threads of Lexa’s badly frayed control snap utterly. Leaning over the Sky girl so she could thrust in at a deeper angle, she found herself pulled tighter and tighter into the omega’s embrace. Jok, _she feels so good around me…so warm and tight…_ Every stroke forced a hoarse cry from Clarke’s throat, and she found herself drawn to the wild fluttering of her pulse at its base. The nearer she got, the better Clarke smelled, and if she had had any control left she would have been alarmed by the possessiveness of the thoughts spinning through her fevered brain: _Clarke…my omega…mine!_ Hips pumping wildly, she set her teeth to the Sky girl’s pulse point and prepared to bite down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you want to yell at us, you can do so on tumblr @raedmagdon and @ohhedamyheda. 
> 
>  
> 
> **Trigedasleng:**
> 
>  
> 
>  _Ai biyo moba, ai nou na ge:_ I am sorry, I cannot  
>  _Jok:_ fuck  
>  _Strikwan:_ orgasm  
>  _Hod op:_ Wait  
>  _Gonasleng:_ English  
>  _Shof op, branwada:_ Shut up, idiot!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is filthy. Like, super filthy. But we think you're all gonna like it ;P
> 
> [](http://s558.photobucket.com/user/calfaolan/media/green78%20-%20twon%20cover_zpskkb485uj.jpg.html)

Raven sighed, picking at a broken, dirt-caked nail on her right hand and trying not to listen to the loud groans coming from inside the bunker. Even though the noise was somewhat muffled by the metal door, the shouts were still clearly audible, and the smell of sex was strong enough to choke on. Her only consolation was that Clarke didn't seem to be afraid or in pain. If anything, she was the one shouting demands, screaming her pleasure and pleading for more.

“Please, Lexa..." Clarke's voice trailed off, covered by a loud thud. Obviously, she and the Grounder Commander were making good use of whatever furniture was in the bunker with them. "Fuck me _harder_ —”

A soft snort came from a few paces away, and Raven glanced up to see the Grounder alpha who had been assigned to stand watch with her begin smirking. She bristled in annoyance, holding the woman's gaze only long enough to show she wasn't afraid before looking away again. With both of their leaders... indisposed... her friends and the Grounders had entered into an uneasy truce, but that didn't mean she had to like it.

The ceasefire between the two groups had been tense, but it had lasted out the acid fog. When they had reached the bunker on Finn’s directions and heard the shouts and cries coming from within, it had been seconds away from snapping. Bellamy and a dark-skinned, battle-scarred Grounder—Raven thought her name was Indra—had almost come to blows, but Lincoln and Octavia had convinced them to back down at the last moment. Eventually, a compromise had been reached. Until Clarke and Lexa came out of the bunker, there would be no bloodshed, and a guard from each group would be posted at the entrance.

Raven cast another suspicious sideways glance at the smug-looking alpha who had been selected to stand guard with her. _Yeah, but why did I have to get stuck with this one? Lincoln and Octavia should have—_

"... _Commander_ , I need you to..."

Clarke's voice swelled once again, and Raven huffed in exasperation. _So, it's 'Commander' now?_ she thought, folding her arms across her chest while keeping a steady grip on her pistol. Keeping watch with the enemy was bad enough. Being forced to listen to the girl her ex-boyfriend had pretty much dumped her for get fucked by the enemy leader was even worse. _Oh well. At least it's not Finn she's rutting with this time..._

She was pulled from her thoughts by the sound of soft, breathy laughter. The Grounder across from her was snickering, chin tilted in amusement, the corners of her mouth turned upward.

"What?" Raven snapped. "Is something here funny to you?"

The alpha merely continued smirking, not at all repentant. "Your leader, this _Klark._ She is... forceful for an omega, isn't she?"

Raven dropped her arms, bunching the hand she wasn't using to hold her gun into a fist, but she didn't have a chance to argue. The thumping continued, with several more shouts scattered in between. " _Lexa."_ Thump. _"Fuck._ " Thump. _"Give me._ " Thump. " _More..."_

Instead of spitting out a response, she merely sighed. "I guess," she mumbled, averting her eyes. Thanks to what she was hearing, she didn't feel any particular desire to come to Clarke's defense. Unless the noises coming from inside the bunker changed to something more sinister, all she had to do was stand there and make sure her fellow guard didn't try to interfere.

"You sound displeased," the alpha said, fixing her with a searching look. "Isn't this what your people intended?"

 _That_ comment set her temper back on edge. She took a step closer, standing toe to toe with the Grounder and ignoring the slight surge of pheromones that stung in her nose. The thick, heavy scent of mating nearly drowned out everything else anyway, so it wasn't particularly difficult. "What, you think we wanted this? The situation's a mess! We didn't cause that acid fog, or plan for Clarke to get trapped in there with your Commander. I just wish we'd gotten here sooner."

If the Grounder was unsettled by her anger, she gave no visible response. "Do you?" she asked, lips still curled into the same small, infuriating grin. "You have to admit, it worked out to your people's advantage. Lexa will be much less willing to slaughter you all if your leader is carrying her pups. Your _Klark_ couldn't have planned it better."

"If you really want to slaughter us, why haven't you?" Raven asked, before she could think better of it. "You have more people than we do, even if we have guns. You could get a few of us..."

For once, the Grounder's face faltered. "We follow _Heda's_ orders. Until she gives the word, there will be no attack."

Now it was Raven’s turn to smirk. “Sounds like that might be a while.”

To her annoyance, the alpha didn’t take the bait. Instead, she held out her arm—further than one usually did to shake, but Raven had seen Octavia and Lincoln say goodbye before, and knew what to do. She reached out and grasped the underside of the Grounder's arm, and felt the alpha do the same a moment later. "I am Anya," the woman said, and for some stupid reason, Raven felt heat flood into her cheeks.

"I'm Raven."

Anya nodded. "Given that it seems we are to be here for a while, it might be best to be on speaking terms."

Raven rolled her eyes. "I don't know. After all _this_ is over, I'm not sure I want to talk to anybody here ever again."

* * *

Anya's eyes swept the forest clearing, taking in the scene around her with no small amount of amusement. Since their near-fight earlier, Indra and Bellamy had been banished to opposite sides of the area and were currently turned away from the rest of their respective groups, looking as though they were having a scowling competition. The other beta Skaikru boy—Finn, Anya had heard Raven call him—was off by himself in a corner, dissatisfaction radiating from him. Ryder and several of the other beta warriors were clustered a safe distance away from both their thundercloud of a general and from the bunker. Betas typically weren't nearly as strongly affected by pheromones as alphas and omegas, but with the sheer wall of scent pouring through the metal door, even they were starting to feel uncomfortable.

Anya herself was not immune, but she was the ranking warrior in their group, after Indra. Ordinarily the general had better control, but having an opposing alpha so close by, and lacking the steadying effect of Lexa's clear dominance, had obviously broken that hold. Anya had worked hard to develop an iron-clad sense of discipline, so she had volunteered to guard the door until their _Heda_ was fit to resume command.

" _Klark..._ ah,  _jok_ , so good—"

Anya couldn't help the slight curl of her upper lip. Lexa might have been the Commander, but she had been her Second before that. When the girl had been assigned to her tutelage, graceless and coltish and headstrong, Anya had never imagined that she would become the strong, proud, skillful warrior she was today. But her ascension to Command could not make Anya forget the pup she'd been, nor the time a teenaged Lexa had collapsed into her arms and sobbed when her first mate had died. That had been the moment that Anya realized how she truly saw Lexa: as a younger sister.

And so while the heady scent of mating and sounds of pleasure pouring from the bunker would have turned the majority of heads, Anya's remained largely clear—if somewhat disturbed. She was glad for Lexa, she truly was, but that didn't mean she wanted to _hear_ the evidence that her former Second had at last found someone beyond Costia. Although of course Lexa couldn't have gone the easy way and chosen one of the many girls who would have been happy to become the Commander's mate. No, she just _had_ to fall into bed—or bunker—with the enemy leader...

A low growl rumbled up from the chest of the beta beside her, and Anya's head whipped around, startled out of her reverie. The tall, dark-haired alpha boy, Bellamy, was approaching the door, smelling of impatience and frustrated arousal. "Are we really gonna stand around here and listen to them fuck?" he said, stopping just short of arm's reach and crossing his arms over his chest. "What if the acid fog comes back? There's no shelter around here for miles that'll hold all of us."

"Back it up, Bellamy," Raven warned. "You know we can't just interrupt them. What do you want to do, leave them like this?"

The alpha snorted. "Octavia and Lincoln did."

"Yeah, and we both know what they left to go do."

That was apparently the wrong thing to say. Bellamy's lip curled up, and he let out a loud snarl. Before she realized what she was doing, Anya had placed herself just a step in front of Raven and was staring the other alpha down.

 _"Hod yu rein daun, skat,"_ Anya said. She was careful to keep her voice low and her pheromones in check, but she allowed just enough alpha to creep into her tone to let Bellamy know who he was dealing with. "You are not so young that you do not know how dangerous it is to disrupt a mating, and I am sure you wouldn't abandon your leader among enemies."

"That's right," Bellamy sneered, taking a step closer. "You _are_ our enemies. And Clarke's in there fucking your leader."

"Sounds like she likes it," Raven remarked, and Anya turned in surprise to see the beta's eyebrow raised and her mouth quirked into a smirk. "What was that I just heard? _Ooh, Clarke, feels so good..."_

Anya's first instinct was to be disgusted, but a moment later, she realized what Raven was trying to do. "That's not all I heard," she said, keeping her tone light. "A few minutes ago I think it was _Oh, Lexa, faster, harder..."_

 _"Seriously?"_ Bellamy burst out, looking utterly revolted. When Raven just grinned cheekily at him, he turned and stalked away. "Ugh."

Once he was out of earshot, Anya stepped back to her post, although not before giving Raven an admiring glance. "That was cleverly done, _Reivon kom Skaikru_ ," she said, folding her arms back across her chest and adopting a much less threatening pose. "I'm impressed that a beta was able to get her way so easily, without even offering a challenge."

Raven's nose wrinkled with what appeared to be annoyance. "Okay, putting aside those weird words I don't understand—"

"Skaikru. People from the sky. That is where you claim to have come from, isn't it?"

Raven didn't allow herself to be talked over. " _Anyway,_ at least your little compliment isn't the _most_ sexist thing I've heard someone say today... but I'm comparing you to Bellamy, so that's not giving you much credit. And regardless of my status, I always get my way. Usually because it's the right way, if you know what I mean." She glanced toward the bunker, and her face tensed with worry, especially around the eyes. "I just hope Clarke knows what she's doing in there..."

Another cry bled through the door at exactly the wrong moment. " _Klark, yes! Keep going..."_

Anya snorted. "It sounds to me as if your leader knows exactly what she's doing."

"That isn't what I meant," Raven insisted. "Bellamy only follows her because her judgment's spot-on, and her ideas are usually the best ones we have. This makes her look impulsive at best, like a traitor at worst. It isn't going to go over well."

Anya considered the beta's words for a moment. This Raven belonged to a different people, but she seemed sensible—far more sensible than most of the other _Skaikru_ she had encountered so far. When Anya spoke, it was with purpose, the same way she would have spoken to a soldier under her command. "Then perhaps you should consider it your duty to _make_ it go over well."

Raven gave her a curious look. "What do you mean?"

"It is obvious that you hold a position of some influence with your people." She examined the beta up and down, lingering on the shape of her hands. They were lined and stained and rough around the edges, and surprisingly enticing to look at despite the grime on them. "You do some kind of specialized labor, don't you? Those are the hands of a craftsman."

"Yeah," Raven said with a casual shrug. "I'm a mechanic. Top of my class, youngest Zero-G mechanic in fifty two years. Not exactly dispensable."

"I have no idea what most of those words mean—"

"Join the club," Raven mumbled. "I've been listening to you people speaking gibberish all day."

Anya arched an eyebrow. "This is our land, Raven. Surely you don't believe you can intrude here and dictate the very language we choose speak?"

After a beat, Raven sighed. "Okay. You have a point. Speaking of points, which one were you trying to make? About Clarke?"

"Clarke is your leader. If you wish for her to remain in power instead of Bellamy, you must use your influence to make her decision seem wise."

"But it _isn't_ wise," Raven insisted, not quite shouting, but clearly irritated. "It's pretty damn stupid, if you ask me."

"That is irrelevant. You must make your people believe that Clarke did this for them. Regardless of how it came about, a mating between our leader and yours gives you some measure of protection. Commander Lexa will be reluctant to slaughter _Skaikru_ if she has taken one of you as her lover. Foolish as it may have been for the two of them to mate so early in the negotiation process, the end result is a bond between our people." She glanced over to the other side of the field, where Indra was pacing like a caged animal. "Indra is aware of this already. Aside from Lexa's absence, it is the only reason she has not ordered an attack."

"I... guess I see your point," Raven admitted, following her gaze. "Maybe I can spin this. It's not too much of a stretch to pretend Clarke seduced the big, bad Commander to help us all get along. Convincing Bellamy to keep his mouth shut is going to be hardest part, but he's not actually that bad, when he's not busy trying to see whose knot is biggest."

"You should try, then," Anya said, deliberately ignoring the long stream of moans that followed. "Someone needs to speak for your leader while she is... occupied... and it might as well be you." She inhaled shallowly, trying to block out the thick, cloying scent of sex. "I'm afraid that she and Lexa won't be coming back out any time soon."

* * *

"God...Lexa... _yes!_ More..." Clarke was barely aware of what she was saying anymore. The alpha above her had turned into a raging beast, plowing into her with vicious force and single-minded intent. Lexa’s every breath came on a low growl, searing hot against her neck, and her fingers dug into Clarke’s hips hard enough to leave bruises. In short, she was an animal, and Clarke loved every minute of it.

She had been through heats before on the Ark, dazed by suppressants and locked in a chamber flowing with cool air designed to filter out her smell, masturbating furiously until it was through. She hadn't imagined that heats without those things would be much different, but she had been so very wrong. The miserable emptiness, the bliss she felt when her chosen alpha finally filled her, the intense desire to be fucked, knotted, _bred_... No, she had never experienced this before. She was finally getting what her body craved, what her heat demanded. There was only one more thing she needed.

Lexa shifted Clarke's hips upward, angling them for deeper thrusts and driving a wordless cry of ecstasy from her already-hoarse throat. She knew she was going to be sore all over when they were through, but she didn't care. All she cared about was that her alpha kept going, kept plunging into her over and over with brutal force and speed. _Wait a second..._ my _alpha?_

Clarke's eyes flew open in sudden shock. The blissful haze of heat blanketing her mind cleared somewhat, and she realized the position that she was in: Lexa's knot nudging at her entrance, her snarls unfurling against Clarke's skin at precisely the place that would be most suited for a mating bite...

To her embarrassment, the thought made her release a fresh tide of wetness and squeeze down tighter around the shaft pumping into her. Lexa groaned quietly, her hips shuddering as she struggled to maintain control, and Clarke's nails dug harder into the Commander's shoulders as she imagined what might happen next—Lexa’s release flooding her, spurt after spurt filling her until she couldn't hold anymore, a tide of come spilling down her thighs... Her entire body tensed up in protest, eliciting another moan from the alpha. The thought of losing a single drop of Lexa’s come made her let out an agonized whine.

Her misery turned into a cry of bliss a second later as Lexa found a new stroke, one that hit the swollen spot on her front wall _perfectly_ with every thrust. In that moment, her decision was made. She was not going to let this end without Lexa's knot inside of her.

Throwing her arms around Lexa's shoulders and tightening her legs around the Commander's waist, she surrendered through the need thundering through her. "Please," she panted out in hoarse gasps, " _please,_ Lexa...need your knot..."

A low growl rumbled through the alpha, the movement of her hips becoming harder and sloppier. _"Klark..."_

For the second time that day, Clarke felt Lexa's knot begin slipping into her, grinding up against her entrance. Each thrust stretched her just a little bit more, increasing the burn she could feel building within her, intensifying the trembling starting to overtake her limbs. Lexa started to shake, and she knew the alpha could feel it too. "Knot me," she gasped out, hardly aware of what she was saying anymore, feeling as though she was on fire with pure need. "Need it—need _you_... Commander, Lexa, alpha— _ah!"_

She felt a sudden, bright spark of pain as the widest part of Lexa's knot stretched her open, and then an instant rush of relief as her entrance sealed around the other side. Her inner walls molded to its thickness, and bliss like she’d never felt before suffused her entire body. She cried out, throat scraped raw and muscles fluttering on the edge of release, but it was Lexa's answering roar that finally brought them both crashing down. Lexa’s cock gave a heavy shudder, and the pressure racing along its length finally burst. The base throbbed, swelling even further, and thick heat spilled from the twitching head, hitting Clarke’s deepest places.

As the first hot jets of come filled her, Clarke found herself hurled into the most intense orgasm of her life. She screamed, throwing her head back and exposing her neck, and it felt like the most natural thing in the world when Lexa's teeth found their home there and bit down.

***

The moment Clarke's muscles closed around her knot, Lexa knew she was lost. She had never been wrapped in anything so tight, so smooth, so warm and wet and welcoming. Her hips jogged one last time—a completely involuntary motion—but she didn't even get to complete the stroke before Clarke started _squeezing_ too, rippling with rhythmic pulses. It was too much to bear. She surrendered to her pleasure, to the pressure pounding within her, to the primal desire to pump Clarke full of her come.

Her climax crashed over her all at once. She stiffened, shivering in Clarke's slender arms as her shaft began to twitch and the first spurts of her _strikwan_ shot free. Once they started, they only grew stronger, and soon, she was emptying a flood into the clutching silk of Clarke's channel. Some of the slippery heat splashed back, trying to slide out, but her knot had sealed off Clarke's entrance completely. Not a single drop escaped, and as she continued spilling, forcing her omega's soft inner walls to stretch.

_My omega..._

With sudden clarity, Lexa realized that she _wanted_ Clarke to be hers. No, not just wanted. Want was an insufficient word to describe how she felt about the trembling woman beneath her, to capture the depth of her desire and longing. She _needed_ Clarke. Needed to claim Clarke with every fiber of her being, and needed Clarke to claim her as well. Clarke was still shuddering around her, massaging her heavy knot and straining to hold her release, and the omega's scent kept pouring into her nose, dragging possessive thoughts to the front of her mind.

 _Do it. Bite her. Make her yours. Just look at her. She_ wants _to belong to you..._

All of Lexa’s doubts fled as her gaze locked with Clarke’s. The need in the Sky girl’s eyes echoed her own, and the expression of tortured ecstasy on her face was too enticing. Her every instinct demanded for her to ease Clarke's pain, to create the bond that would link them together even after their tie faded. In the end, she couldn't resist. She dipped her head, searching out the place where Clarke's tempting scent pooled thick in the crook of her shoulder, and peeled her lips back over her teeth.

As soon as she bit down, Lexa knew she had made the right choice. Clarke's flesh was the most delicious thing she had ever tasted, even more intoxicating than her smell. She groaned into her hold, sinking in deeper, deep enough to leave a bruise and catch the faintest hint of copper on her tongue. Clarke whimpered, but it wasn't a sound of distress—it was complete and total acceptance. The omega's inner muscles went wild around her, and a heartbeat later, she felt a wonderful, brilliant pain explode at the base of her own throat. Clarke had latched on tight, and the two of them held fast, spiraling back into bliss together.

The mating bite only intensified their shared peak, dragging it out even longer. Despite the clinging embrace of Clarke's arms and the desperate hook of Clarke's knees around her waist, Lexa somehow found a way to keep moving. Her strokes were short, since she couldn't withdraw, but each one still drove little wails from Clarke, and she adored the way they vibrated against her shoulder. The sweet sounds coaxed another thick flood from her cock, and she growled as she felt Clarke's belly press into hers. It already carried a subtle curve, and with each stream of come she spilled, it swelled a little more. The sensation drove her wild. Clarke was _her_ mate, wearing _her_ mark, holding _her_ knot and filled up with _her_ release, and perhaps…

The thought of Clarke's belly swollen with her pups made her deepen her hold reflexively on the omega's throat. Clarke cried out, but it didn't sound like pain, and the heady sweetness of submission filtered even more strongly through her scent. Lexa fell into a steady, forceful rocking motion, her cock and knot sliding only millimeters within Clarke's channel, but she was already so exquisitely sensitive and the omega was so incredibly tight that it was enough to make her see stars. Clarke was clearly beyond words herself, but the soft whimpers and moans coming from the girl beneath her, and the way her inner walls kept rippling around Lexa's knot, told her that she appreciated Lexa's movements.

She couldn't say for sure when her first climax had ended, but she knew when the next began. The Sky girl had let go of her bite in order to gasp and cry out as Lexa rutted firmly into her, but before long she latched back on and started sucking. The pressure and slight edge of pain were enough to tip her over the edge again. She howled as tension raced along her twitching shaft and unfurled even more of her release into Clarke's womb. That triggered the omega's orgasm as well, and they collapsed into a mess of shudders and sighs. The minute movements of Lexa's hips drew heavy contractions from Clarke's inner walls, and the sensation pulled jet after jet of come from deep inside her.

Lexa felt as though she might be borne along on a tide of bliss forever, but eventually weariness began to overcome her. With a heavy sigh, she settled herself along Clarke's body, tucking her face into the curve of her neck and breathing in their mingled scents deeply. The comfort that suffused her brain at the smell had an edge of bittersweetness to it, calling to mind the first time she had found this peace with another person. _Costia_... With a jolt, she realized that Clarke had made her claim on the opposite side of her neck. Many an omega would have taken the opportunity to assert their possession by biting down over a previous mark, but Clarke had chosen differently.

With some difficulty, Lexa pulled her face away from the intoxicating smell to look into her new mate's eyes. They were hazy with exhaustion and pleasure at first, but they soon grew cloudy with concern. Clarke's hand moved up from where it had been tracing the lines of scars and tattoos on her back to follow the curve of her cheek. "What's wrong?"

The hoarse rasp of the omega's voice made affection glow to life in her heart, and she dipped her head to take Clarke's lips in a kiss. "Nothing.”

But the Sky girl was more perceptive than that; her fingers skimmed along the side of Lexa's neck until they came to rest, very gently, on the old, faded scar that was all she had left of Costia. "You wanna tell me about this?"

Lexa heaved a sigh. No, she didn't, but she knew she owed Clarke an explanation. She didn't want the Sky girl thinking there was someone else, or that she was being untrue somehow. "I lost someone special to me once," she said, keeping her tone carefully neutral so that she did not betray the conflicting emotions welling in her heart. "Her name was Costia. She was captured by the Ice Nation, whose queen believed she knew my secrets. Because she was mine...they tortured her, killed her, and cut off her head."

Although Clarke had never known Costia, could not recall the sweetness of her smile or the brilliance of her laugh the way Lexa did, the slight gasp she let out and the way her eyes welled at the alpha's pain did more for Lexa than any expression of sympathy. Something sparked to life in her then, something she had thought dead and buried with her first mate, and she had to hide her face in the curve of Clarke's neck again, taking long, slow, shuddering breaths in an attempt to regain control of herself. The omega's hands were warm and soft and comforting, stroking the muscles in her back and shoulders and skimming through her hair. Lexa closed her eyes as peace settled over her again, peace that she had not felt in quite some time. She didn't realize just how close she was to sleep until her hair stirred gently with Clarke's exhaled breath: "I'm sorry."

“Me too,” she whispered back, though her eyes remained closed, “but not about this.” _Not about us._

* * *

Clarke remained resting beneath Lexa long after the alpha drifted off to sleep. If she'd wanted, she could have tried to escape—her new mate wasn't particularly heavy, despite her obvious strength—but she was perfectly content to stay where she was. Lexa's weight was comforting, and their bodies fit together as if they had been made for one another. Instead, she let her hands continue roaming over Lexa's smooth back, occasionally tilting her chin to place soft kisses over the mark she had left. It was still fresh, but the faint traces of blood were already gone, leaving behind only the imprint of her teeth.

When Lexa had first bitten her, returning the mating mark had been instinctive. She hadn't thought about which shoulder she was taking, or what it would mean for the two of them. But although she was still very confused, and more than a little nervous, she was glad as well. Glad she had made her own mark instead of biting over Lexa's old one, and glad she had completed the bond. It was a choice she knew she would probably second-guess once her heat faded, but it didn't frighten her as much as it should have.

 _You aren't thinking this through, Griffin,_ a voice in her mind said, one that sounded a bit too much like her mother's for comfort. _You just bonded with an alpha you don't know anything about..._

But she did know a few things about Lexa—things she had gleaned through their brief but intense interactions. She knew that Lexa was an intelligent leader, as well as a reasonable one. She wasn't quick to anger, even when she had every right, and seemed to regard peace as her primary goal. _Why else would she have agreed to give us a second chance? She didn't have to meet with us. She could have sent her army to wipe us out before our families got here._

She also knew that Lexa was considerate. The alpha could have taken her as soon as they were alone in the bunker. In the midst of her heat, she wouldn't have had the strength of will to resist. But Lexa had done everything in her power to keep the tension between them from escalating, and after they finally gave in to their urges, she had even pulled out to avoid an unwanted pregnancy. The gesture had infuriated Clarke at the time, but looking back, it was almost sweet.

Finally, she knew Lexa had the capacity to care for someone—deeply, if the way her eyes had glistened while talking about her previous mate was any indication. Perhaps with time, Lexa might even feel the same way about her...

 _Don't think that way,_ the voice in her head said. _You barely know her. You're getting way ahead of yourself._ But the mark on her own throat throbbed, reminding her that she and Lexa had already gotten way too far ahead of themselves. A mating bite couldn't be taken back. For better or worse, she and Lexa were stuck together, in more ways than one.

Her nose wrinkled with mild discomfort as something warm and wet began leaking over her thighs and onto the rug beneath her. In sleep, Lexa's knot had finally begun to shrink, and all the come it had been keeping in was starting to seep out. Clarke sighed, but there wasn't much she could do about it. Lexa was still dead to the world, and she didn't have the heart to wake her. If that meant she had to sit in a puddle for a few minutes, then so be it.

Unfortunately, the stain kept growing. "My god," she muttered, squirming a little to try and find a slightly less sticky spot on the rug. "Are all Grounder alphas like this, or are you just special?" She didn't have a lot of experience mating with alphas, but she did have enough to know that this much of a mess wasn't normal. _Or maybe it was my heat. I've always gone through them on my own before. I guess I could have... encouraged her._

The thought made her shiver. Lexa had responded to her with more intensity than any other partner she had ever taken. Memories that had once been pleasant were suddenly faded and unimportant, and the full implications of what she had done finally began to settle over her. She was Lexa's now, totally and completely. Her body would reject everyone else, and so would her heart. She had made her choice, and she could only hope that it wouldn’t prove to be a terrible mistake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let us know what dirty, dirty sinners we are @raedmagdon and @ohhedamyheda on tumblr!
> 
>  
> 
> **Trigedasleng:**
> 
>  
> 
>  _jok:_ fuck  
>  _Hod yu rein daun, skat:_ Mind your place, boy


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ready for more sin? Ah, who are we kidding, we all know you are ;P As always, let us know what you think in the comments, and hit us up on tumblr @raedmagdon and @n1ghtwr1ter!
> 
> [](http://s558.photobucket.com/user/calfaolan/media/green78%20-%20twon%20cover_zpskkb485uj.jpg.html)  
> 

She was so very tired. She had only meant to put her head down for a little while, but her bed was warm and soft and pleasantly shaped. _So warm…_ But now, apparently, her bed had become dissatisfied with its current situation, because it was moving.

“Lexa.” A grunt. “ _Lexa!”_ A shove prompted a louder grunt, and a low rumble of annoyance. “Lexa, for fuck’s sake, will you get _off_ me?”

Lexa raised her head to growl at her disobedient bedding and found herself staring into a pair of brilliant blue eyes that were currently sparkling with something like fury—or panic. She opened her mouth to ask what was wrong, but all that came out was a jaw-cracking yawn. When she was able to open her eyes again, Clarke’s scowl had deepened.

 _Clarke. Oh,_ Keryon, _what did I do? What did_ we _do?_ Tentatively, she raised her hand to probe at the side of her neck, the side that, unless last night had been a truly spectacular dream, was no longer bare. When her fingers met the bite mark, she couldn’t help the jolt that shuddered through her as memories came rushing back.

_Tight, clinging heat wrapped around her cock, slender legs and a raspy voice urging her—no, begging her—to drive in deeper, fuck her, claim her… The way Clarke had felt pulsing around her knot, pulling jet after jet of her release into her deepest places… The omega’s intoxicating scent, and her gesture of submission as she came, utterly destroying Lexa’s resistance, and then the brief tang of iron and the rush of sweetness as she bit down…_

Without realizing it, Lexa’s hand had come up to touch the answering mark at the join of Clarke’s neck. When her fingers made contact, she felt the omega’s entire body shudder, and warmth started growing between her legs. She could feel herself blushing, but to her surprise, Clarke’s tawny skin had taken on an answering rosy glow. “Does it hurt?” Lexa asked softly, swallowing her sudden shyness in favor of concern.

“N—no,” Clarke said. “You are kind of heavy, though.”

“Oh!” Realizing that she still hadn’t done what Clarke had woken her up to do, Lexa pushed herself up and out of the circle of Clarke’s arms. She scooted backwards, trying not to shiver at the sudden chill that enveloped her skin at the loss of the omega’s warmth. She had meant to get to her feet and attempt to distance herself further, but something in her protested mightily with every inch she moved away from her mate. _My mate. Oh,_ jok ai. _What have I gotten myself into this time?_

She tried not to watch too closely as Clarke rose onto her elbows, but as the omega’s hand began trailing over her own skin, tracing the marks there, Lexa couldn’t help following it. She hadn’t been gentle, she realized guiltily. There were bruises and scratch marks and bites nearly everywhere, though none so deep as the one at Clarke’s throat, but she also couldn’t help recalling how the omega had cried out and clenched even harder around her whenever she made a new one.

The heat building at her center had grown uncomfortable, and she felt herself twitch as Clarke finished her examination and looked back up at her with a distinctly disgruntled air. “So, I think we can both agree that this was pretty much the worst idea either of us has ever had.”

Lexa was aware of the sensation of dangling one-handed off the edge of a precipice. Swallowing to assuage her suddenly dry mouth, she said carefully, “While I don't disagree with you in terms of policy, or the…tenuous relationship between our people, I can't say that I would exactly call it an idea. It was more of an impulse.”

Clarke threw her a withering look, crossing her arms around herself to hold back a shiver. “You're really going to argue semantics with me right now?”

“Well, it's not as though we both sat down and decided to trap ourselves in a bunker during your heat,” Lexa said, careful to keep her tone neutral. She knew that the omega had to be scared, and angry, and embarrassed, if her scent was anything to go by, and the last thing she wanted to do was antagonize her further.

“It wasn't supposed to _happen_ like this, though!” Clarke burst out, shivering again despite herself, and Lexa found herself halfway across the floor to offer the comfort of her own relative warmth before the Sky girl pinned her with a glare. Slowly, she sank back to her seat on the rug, trying to ignore the steady throb that had taken up residence between her legs. “I’ve always been smart about this, always been careful. I keep track of the days between cycles so I don’t get surprised. I take my suppressants. This doesn't happen to me—this _can't_ happen to me!”

Clarke leapt upright, pacing back and forth like a caged panther, and Lexa found herself enraptured with the sway of her hips, the movement of her hair where it cascaded down her shoulders in a glinting waterfall. She was so captivated that she almost didn't notice when the omega whirled on her with a snarl and a glare. “This is your fault!”

Clarke might have been an omega in heat, and she might have been Lexa’s new mate, but she wasn't going to let a statement like that go unchallenged. Scrambling to her feet, she matched Clarke glare for glare. “And what is your reasoning for that?” she asked, low and deadly. “I did not make the acid fog come.”

The only reaction the omega betrayed was a shudder before Clarke was crowding into her space, eyes and scent sparking with fury. “My heat wasn't here yet! I was supposed to have a few more days, but there you were, smelling like alpha and looking like you do, and—”

“And what would you have had me do?” the Commander snapped, stepping closer herself and trying to ignore how much easier it was than remaining further away. “I am the leader of my people. It falls to me to conduct negotiations, just as it does to you. Am I to neglect my duties so that I don't affect you?”

“It's not that simple and you know it,” Clarke hissed. They were standing practically toe-to-toe, Lexa realized abruptly, and just as suddenly realized that while the omega’s heat might have been sated, it was not over. It had built subtly, and had been masked by the scent of her agitation, but the intoxicating cloud of Clarke’s heat had risen again to fill the space between them. Before she could think to distance herself from the snarling woman in front of her, Lexa’s head was spinning with it.

And that wasn’t the only physiological reaction she was having, she realized with a groan. The warmth between her own thighs had been building steadily since she woke, but the sight of Clarke standing before her, bare except for the challenge in her eyes and smelling of sex, stoked Lexa’s arousal into a towering inferno. Her clit throbbed with what felt like its own heartbeat as it swelled. She knew it was just about the worst time for it to happen, but she couldn’t help it. Her instincts were urging her to obey the call of Clarke’s body and satisfy her mate’s heat once again.

Unfortunately, Clarke noticed. The omega's blazing blue eyes widened, fixing straight between her legs, darkening with something that Lexa immediately recognized as desire. "I can’t _believe_ you," Clarke said, but the sharp edge had completely disappeared from her voice. Instead, it had grown low and husky, and a soft pink tongue peeked out to roll over her bottom lip. "Seriously, Lexa? Right now, while we're trying to figure out what to do about this? You can't just... get rid of it?"

Lexa shuddered. She tried to think of something— _anything—_ else, but the intensity of Clarke's stare was only worsening her problem. Her length had extended several inches already, and it was still growing despite her best efforts. Soon, the shaft jutted out proudly from between her thighs, pulsing against the air, aching for some kind of contact. A pearly drop of wetness clung to the swollen head, and she had to stifle a whimper as pounding pressure gathered in the base.

"No," she said, trying to conceal the crack of desire in her voice. Clarke's scent was in her nose, her lungs, coiling around her skin and seeping into her pores, and speaking was incredibly difficult with all the blood in her body flowing straight to her cock. _Jok_ , _she doesn't even want me, isn't even touching me, and I'm almost ready to knot._ "I can't just... get rid of it." She drew in a shallow breath, summoning what remained of her willpower. "But I will go over to the other side of the room, if it would make you more comfortable."

"Wait."

Lexa froze in surprise. Clarke was reaching out toward her with something that almost looked like desperation, and though the omega's hand hadn't actually touched her arm, just the possibility of skin contact doubled the fullness that was already building in her shaft. Her mind raced on without her permission, imagining how it would feel to have that hand on her shoulder, her hip, gliding down her stomach and wrapping around her...

" _Klark_." She spoke her new mate's name in a pleading voice, but she wasn't certain of what she was pleading for—for Clarke to let her pull away, or for Clarke to step closer. Her instincts were ordering her to take Clarke in her arms, to run her palms over Clarke's lean sides and cup her hips and stroke the beautiful, subtle curve of her belly, but she remembered the sheer terror she had seen in the omega's eyes upon waking. It was obvious that Clarke was still uncertain, and her heat was clouding her judgment. "Please, explain what you want from me. I would never dream of doing anything to..."

She didn't get to finish the whispered request before Clarke closed the distance she had been too hesitant to breach. Lexa groaned involuntarily as Clarke's fingertips brushed over her stomach, tracing over the tense muscles there and making her earlier fantasy a reality. "I want..." Clarke murmured, leaning close and inhaling beside her neck. Lexa knew the omega was scenting her, and she couldn't resist doing the same, tilting her head to breathe in the sweet smell trapped in Clarke's golden hair.

" _Beja, Klark,_ " she gasped, completely forgetting her _Gonasleng._ _"Tel ai op."_

"God, how can listening to you talk turn me on so much when I can't even understand you?"

Lexa couldn't formulate an answer. Moments later, Clarke's warm fingers curled around her shaft, and anything she might have tried to say was lost in a long, desperate moan. As soon as Clarke touched her, the length of her cock twitched, spilling more clear fluid and pounding hard. Her face flushed in embarrassment as glistening trails of her arousal ran over Clarke's hand, but the omega's warm fist felt much too good to pull away from. She simply didn't have the strength, and when Clarke started _squeezing_ her, stroking upward and stopping just beneath the flared tip, her hips nearly jerked.

"Oh God," Clarke muttered again, less than an inch away from her ear. Lexa could feel her mate's ragged panting, and it only confused her further. She trembled, trying not to whine as the pad of Clarke's thumb began painting circles over her sensitive slit. "You're so _warm_ and... hard and... _dripping_ and... do you always get so wet?"

Lexa sagged forward, burying her nose in Clarke's hair and mouthing at her neck. She didn't bite down, but simply tasting the salt on Clarke's skin helped ease a little of her pain. She hadn't expected this at all, especially since Clarke had been furious with her mere moments before, but it was absolute bliss, and she didn't want Clarke's hand to stop.

Clarke’s posture matched hers, burying her nose in Lexa’s neck and breathing in deep. When she spoke again, it was in a low, breathy whisper that made the alpha shudder. “Lexa, can I…” But she didn’t continue.

Lexa forced herself to lean away from the omega’s captivating scent. Tipping Clarke’s chin up so that she could look into the Sky girl’s eyes, she nearly gasped at what she saw. The fire that had been blazing at her only moments ago was not gone, but it had changed. Now, it burned with need instead of challenge. Clarke attempted to look away after only a second of holding her gaze, and Lexa felt something tug in her chest at the omega’s submissive attitude. Attempting to force back the rough desire that turned her voice into a growl, she said, “Clarke, please… Tell me what it is you want.”

The Sky girl remained silent for a few more moments, continuing to stroke Lexa’s length with one hand and running the other over her stomach muscles as they flexed. Almost absentmindedly, Clarke’s thumb rolled over the swollen head of Lexa’s cock and teased the slit, rubbing the bead of wetness that came forth at her touch. Lexa couldn’t breathe. She had turned into a being of pure need, all of the focus in her body on the aching sensitivity between her legs. A moment later, she became aware of a high, needy whine keening through the overheated air of the bunker, and realized with a flush that it was her.

Clarke looked up delightedly at the sound, and then, as though it was giving her some form of courage or daring she had not previously possessed, drew a deep breath before sinking to her knees. Lexa’s eyes widened as Clarke’s mouth drew tantalizingly nearer and nearer to the head of her cock, until each exhalation brushed the throbbing head. Every muscle in Lexa’s body felt as though it was trembling, although she remained stock still.

“Please, Lexa… _Commander…_ Can I taste you?”

It took Lexa a moment to make sense of Clarke’s words, but the instant she did, all of the air seemed to leave the bunker. All she could manage was a slow nod, but it was enough to make Clarke’s eyes gleam.

Then the omega’s head dipped, and Lexa had to concentrate mightily not to explode at the first teasing brush of Clarke’s lips. When the omega’s tongue slipped out to tease the slit her fingers had been rubbing moments before, Lexa let out a strangled groan at the jolt of pleasure that seared through her. She felt like she was balanced on the edge of a precipice, and she needed something, _anything,_ to hold onto that would ground her before her legs gave out. Barely aware of what she was doing, she slid the fingers of one hand into the Sky girl’s silky tresses.

At the first touch of her hand, Clarke let out a low growl. Lexa drew back, suddenly afraid that she had done something wrong and utterly unwilling to lose the delicious, teasing heat. But Clarke’s growl intensified, and her eyes flicked up to meet Lexa’s, pupils wide and dark enough to drown in. Slowly, she moved her hand back into place, and the growl ceased.

Clarke’s gaze returned to the cock in her hand, equal parts fascinated and hungry. Lexa was fairly certain that if the Sky girl kept teasing her, she was going to pass out, but fortunately, Clarke seemed to have reached the same conclusion. After running her tongue one more time along the divot in the swollen, dripping head, eagerly catching the drops that spilled forth, Clarke leaned closer and engulfed Lexa in wet, perfect warmth.

***

Clarke wasn't exactly sure what she had expected Lexa to taste like, but at the first touch of her tongue to the gleaming head of the alpha's cock, a whimper of happy surprise broke in her chest. She had hoped Lexa's arousal would taste as good as the rest of her, had been certain it would from the smell, but the wonderful flavor that filled her mouth was beyond her wildest expectations. After a few slow swirls, she finally came up with a word that came close to describing it— _Addictive._ Lexa tasted addictive. Clarke burrowed the tip of her tongue into the slit where Lexa’s wetness was welling out, eagerly searching for more.

She didn't have to work hard to get it. Thin, pulsing streams started spilling into her mouth almost immediately. At first, she wondered if Lexa was coming, but the spurts weren't nearly as powerful as the ones that had flooded inside her a few hours before. She continued sucking steadily, sealing her lips tighter around the swollen head and struggling to concentrate as the ache between her own legs grew. She wasn't sure how Lexa could leave her so sensitive without even touching her below the chin, but her clit was throbbing nearly as hard as Lexa's length in her hand, and her inner thighs were a sticky, dripping mess.

 _I want her to come,_ Clarke realized—the only thought powerful enough to pierce the heat fogging up her head. _I want to_ make _her come._ Somehow, it seemed very important that Lexa's release, Lexa's low groans of need, and the shudders that coursed through Lexa's lithe body all belonged to her. The base of the alpha’s shaft was already throbbing, beginning to swell with the start of a knot, but although the hollow ache within her screamed to wrap around it, Clarke didn't want to stop what she was doing. Thoughts of how it would feel to make Lexa come in her mouth, to work the alpha's cock deep into her throat and feel it pulse as it emptied, had already captured her imagination. Her other needs could wait. This one couldn't.

More determined than ever, she doubled her efforts, letting several more inches of Lexa's shaft slide into her mouth and scraping her tongue along its underside. Lexa's hips gave a slight jerk, but it was the deep grunt that followed that had Clarke's inner walls fluttering and her face glowing with pride. She wasn't sure _why_ she craved Lexa's responses so desperately, no matter how small they were, but they were every bit as addictive as the alpha's taste. She took in even more of Lexa’s length, letting the broad head nudge the back of her throat and pressing her lips to the top of her own fist.

" _Klark!_ "

Hearing her name fall from her mate's lips was even better than the moans and sighs Lexa had been making before. The fingers in her hair twisted tighter—not quite pulling, but close—and the small surges of heat slipping from the tip of Lexa's cock grew stronger. For one brief moment, she looked up, and the absolute awe shining in Lexa's eyes nearly had her coming without any contact at all. Lexa was staring at her with such desire, such admiration, that Clarke felt a wave of warmth wash over every inch of her bare skin. No one else had ever looked at her that way before, and it lit her nerve endings aflame.

Determined to claim the reward she could feel throbbing just beneath her fist, Clarke brought both of her hands up to cup Lexa's rapidly swelling knot, leaving more room for her mouth to descend on the last several inches of the shaft. She still couldn't quite hold it all, but she came close, and it seemed to be more than enough for Lexa. The Commander stiffened, then shouted, hips rocking forward in a selfish, uneven rut as the pressure pounding along her length finally burst free.

Clarke had thought she was prepared for the coming flood, but the first hot jets that hit the back of her mouth still took her by surprise. They were hard and fast and _constant,_ and she nearly choked at the sheer force of the thick streams. Her eyes began to water, but as the harsh spurts washed back across her tongue, overflowing from between her lips, she realized that they tasted delicious—heavy and sweet, with a bitter edge that only made the flavor better. She began swallowing, hurrying to catch up with the thick waves before she lost any more.

Just when it seemed like Lexa might never stop, the streams began to taper off. Whining low in the back of her throat, Clarke pumped the alpha’s shaft with one hand while continuing to massage her knot with the other, and was rewarded with a few more spurts. After she had swallowed the last of Lexa’s release, she reluctantly let the tip of the alpha’s cock slide out of her mouth with a wet pop and sat back on her heels, squirming indecisively. The sight of Lexa above her, gasping and still shuddering with the aftershocks of her orgasm, was almost enough to make her want to slide her hand down her belly and touch herself—but another need was rising in her, forceful as a gale. She needed to come, but more than that, she needed Lexa inside her.

“Fuck me,” she said breathlessly, staring up at her mate. The alpha’s eyes narrowed and her scent flared, dominance and sex and desire all in one, and it made Clarke gasp with its heady power. The hand on her head slid down the line of her cheek and under her chin, and drew her into a standing position with just the tips of two long, slim fingers. Clarke’s entire body shook with need, but she forced herself to stay in place, even though she badly wanted to sink to the floor and tug the Commander down with her.

Lexa, however, had other ideas. Dipping her head to close the slight gap between them, she took Clarke’s mouth in a harsh, brutal kiss, all teeth and bruising lips and plundering tongue. _She’s tasting herself,_ Clarke realized, and the thought sent another tremor through her body. The alpha’s hands fell to her hips, fingers digging in firmly and tugging Clarke closer until their bodies were flush, and she could feel Lexa’s length pressing urgently at her hip. _Oh god, she’s still hard._ Wetness trickled down her thigh at the thought, and her insides clenched eagerly.

When Lexa’s mouth finally dragged away, Clarke let out a whimper—but it soon turned into a moan as Lexa blazed a trail of nips and kisses down the side of her neck. She found herself gasping as one of Lexa roughly palmed one of her breasts, but then the alpha’s mouth found its goal: the mating mark that still pulsed and throbbed on the side of her neck. When Lexa reached it, she bit down—not as hard as she had when she’d first made it, but enough to draw a ragged cry from Clarke.

A haze descended over her, and she drifted on waves of need that swept through her like riptides. As Lexa continued kneading her breast and suckling at her pulse point, Clarke found herself babbling out a stream of what she approximated to be words, although at this point, she couldn’t really tell: “Please, Lexa, I need you, _please,_ I need you to fuck me, knot me, please, I can’t stand it—” She was burning up with it, the emptiness inside of her growing nearly unbearable, and with the last ounce of strength she had, she dug her fingers into the alpha’s braided mane and yanked her head back.

She was greeted with a snarl, but all Clarke could do in response was whimper and expose her throat. The display of submission appeared to appease Lexa, because the growl died down to a low, sub-audible rumble that Clarke could feel vibrating through her chest. “ _Ron ai yu gapa op,”_ the alpha said in a scraping voice, eyes burning into Clarke’s.

The harsh tones and alien cadences of the words made her pulse even harder. She didn’t understand what Lexa was saying, but she knew by the tone that it was an order. And maybe on some subconscious level, she did know—or her omega did. Trembling, she pulled back from Lexa’s grasp, whimpering a bit at the loss of warmth and touch, and then turned, eyes restlessly roaming the bunker. She didn’t know what she was looking for, but she knew when she found it. Once her gaze locked on the desk near the wall, she stumbled over to it, sucked in a breath, and then bent over, draping herself across it and spreading her legs. The cool surface felt good against her overheated skin, but need still flared within her. Without looking back, she widened her stance and lifted her hips, presenting herself to be mounted.

She knew she had made the right choice when something akin to a roar echoed through the still air of the bunker. With a few swift strides, Lexa was upon her. Harsh snarls shuddered through the alpha’s chest where it pressed against her back, and her nails raked red stripes down Clarke’s sides, but she didn’t care. She could barely feel it. All she could feel was the tip of her mate’s cock probing at her entrance, ready to take her in one brutal thrust.

"Lexa, _please_ —"

She didn't need to beg. Lexa's hips were already snapping against hers, seeking the penetration they both craved. The stretch stole Clarke's breath at first, but as soon as the broad head of Lexa's cock popped past her entrance, several more inches slid inside without any resistance. The fullness was _incredible_  almost too much, but her wetness smoothed out Lexa's thrusts, and the mild pain she felt was completely drowned out by pleasure. She clawed helplessly at the edge of the desk, struggling to hold up against the raw power pounding into her. For someone so slender, Lexa was incredibly strong, and her harsh movements brought their bodies crashing together.

" _Jok, Klark, yu gapa,"_ Lexa panted into the back of her neck, and even though she couldn't understand the words, Clarke felt every consonant travel straight down to her clit. " _Yu bilaik faya raun ai. Krei os... yu ste krei os."_

"I... I don't know wh—what you're saying, but... _please_ keep saying it," she pleaded in a stumbling stammer, lifting her hips even higher. Lexa's shaft kept slamming into her, but she still hadn't taken the heavy knot nudging against her entrance. Sometimes it caught there, with a slick sucking sound, but Lexa didn't seem ready to bury it yet. Clarke herself was torn. Once Lexa was tied with her, the delicious friction would go away...

_But then she'll come. Inside me._

Clarke's inner walls twitched, spreading open instinctively, and on Lexa's next thrust, a good portion of the alpha's knot began sinking inside.

_"Mou. Ai gaf yu in... ai gaf eting raun ai hodon..."_

Even in a different language, it was easy to figure out what Lexa wanted. "Do it," Clarke demanded, arching just enough to look back over her shoulder and find Lexa's eyes. They burned with desire—desire for _her—_ and the hollow ache inside her screamed. "Knot me. I need—"

Lexa's hips gave one last lurch, and Clarke found herself moaning into the hungry fire of her new mate's mouth as the incredible thickness finally pushed inside. Her entrance had no trouble swallowing it. As soon as her inner walls molded to its shape, she came, rippling and shuddering and trembling as tears of delight and relief rolled down her cheeks. She was so _full_ , and Lexa was hers, and all the fears and worries she had carried before suddenly seemed meaningless.

 _"Jok!"_ Lexa grunted, mouth still connected with hers, _"Ain, Klark. Yu laik ain..."_

The sound and feel of her name spilling from Lexa's lips into hers was too much for Clarke to bear. With the last shred of control she had, she squeezed down deliberately around Lexa's shaft in the midst of her release and held tight, hoping it would be enough to drag her lover over the edge with her.

Less than a second later, the heavy knot inside her twitched, and a rush of come shot from the tip of Lexa's cock. The hot, rhythmic spurts splashed up to hit her deepest places, and Clarke wailed, inner walls shivering, grasping even tighter. Lexa was pumping what felt like an ocean inside of her, perhaps even more than she had taken the night before. Her muscles strained to hold it all, and just as she started to doubt that even Lexa's knot could keep it in, sharp teeth sank into her neck, convincing her body to make a little extra room.

Soon, she was a limp, sticky mess, whimpering as she and Lexa rode out their aftershocks together. Filled with Lexa's knot and swollen with her come, the thick cloud around her mind and the sharp pangs of emptiness had finally receded. She heaved a sigh of relief, letting her head fall forward and smushing her cheek against the cool surface of the desk. Lexa had collapsed the rest of the way on top of her, but she didn't mind the weight. She rather enjoyed feeling the alpha's firm breasts trapped against her shoulderblades.

"What was _that_?" Clarke asked once she caught her breath, a smile spreading across her face. Now that her needs had been taken care of, curiosity had taken root in her mind. She found herself wondering what, exactly, Lexa had been muttering into her mouth.

"I... do not know what you mean," Lexa said, but the tension that crept into her body gave her away. Clarke could feel the alpha stiffen above her, and without even looking, she suspected her mate's cheeks had taken on a flush.

 _She's embarrassed,_ Clarke realized, sucking her lower lip between her teeth to stifle her laughter. _Whatever she said, it must have been pretty graphic._ “What you were saying just now?” she asked, struggling to keep her voice steady. “When you were…” She trailed off, feeling the alpha shift uncomfortably above her, but was met with stubborn silence. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, it was _really_ hot, but I don’t know much of your language, so you might have been saying ‘ _I really wish you’d had a bath sometime this month’_ for all I know.”

Lexa gave a jolt. Tied as tightly as they were, Clarke felt it ripple through her entire body, and she had to bite her tongue to hold off a moan. “No! That…was not what I said.”

“Well, am I just supposed to take your word for it?” Clarke said teasingly. “Come on, show of good faith. There was one word you said a lot; it sounded like… _gapa?”_

Lexa’s entire body shuddered, and Clarke felt her cock give a heavy twitch. _Oh my god, already? That definitely got her attention…_ “What does _gapa_ mean, Lexa?” Twisting her head around to grin up at the alpha, Clarke was delighted to see that underneath her tan, Lexa was blushing furiously. She tried to avert her eyes, but Clarke gave another determined squeeze of her inner muscles, drawing out a groan.

When Lexa opened her eyes again, they were muddy with a clash of desire and embarrassment, but it looked like desire was winning. Clarke felt the alpha’s chest swell against her back as she drew in a deep breath, and then Lexa said, “I believe the word your people use for it is _cunt.”_

This time when Clarke squeezed Lexa’s shaft, it was entirely involuntary, but god did it feel good. She couldn’t help letting out a low moan of her own when Lexa’s hips jerked against hers, making her achingly aware of how full she was with Lexa’s knot and come. Forcing her breathing to slow, she said, “So what would the word be for... _cock_?”

The alpha gave a short, firm thrust against her backside that made her moan even louder, but what really got to her was the heavy throb of the shaft inside her. Lexa was panting above her, hot breaths unfurling across her neck and making her skin tingle. Her entire body trembled like she was just on the edge of losing control and rutting into Clarke mindlessly. If she hadn’t been so turned on, she would have been embarrassed at how much she wanted that.

“ _Hefdong_ _,”_ Lexa said, in a low growl that would have made Clarke’s wetness start seeping down her legs if they weren’t so tightly tied. It took everything she had not to press herself back against the Commander as far as she could get, begging silently for as much friction and pressure as Lexa could give her.

“So what did you say at first, before I...” Now it was her turn to blush, remembering how she had just draped herself over the desk, open and ready for the alpha’s taking. A strangled snarl from above her was her only answer, so she lowered her voice and let just a tinge of submission enter her tone. “Lexa, please…”

“ _Ran ai yu gapa op._ It means...give me your cunt.” The way she said it was so low, so harsh, so full of command that Clarke nearly surrendered to her need there and then—but she had one more card to play. She wanted the alpha, the beast who had mated her and claimed her and filled her so deliciously with the knot she couldn’t help fluttering around, and she was going to make sure that she got what she craved.

“Lexa… _ran ai yu hefdong op.”_

Lexa made a noise that was closer to a roar than anything, and a moment later, Clarke felt the hard press of teeth into the skin of her shoulder. She barely had time to cry out in ecstasy before strong arms hooked under hers for more leverage, and her legs were being kicked further apart. The alpha pulled back as far as she could with the tie, and then began rutting into her, hard and deep.

Clarke tipped her head back and keened with joy as pleasure began building in her once again. The friction made her burn, even though Lexa could barely move within her, but what drove her even wilder was the selfish way she was being taken, her body being used for the Commander’s pleasure. It was clear that Lexa was ordinarily a gentle, considerate lover, one who would gladly drive Clarke over the edge again and again before seeking her own satisfaction. The alpha pumping furiously into her, hot breaths laced with snarls, clearly had no such compunctions. And while typically Clarke would have found that sort of behavior inexcusable, in the grip of her heat, it made her whine and pant and writhe against her mate, begging for more.

She struggled to find the words to plead for what she wanted, but Lexa had no such trouble. The alpha began muttering in her own language again, apparently too desperate to be embarrassed any longer. _"Jok, Klark, ai gaf gada yu in,"_ she growled, and just as before, Clarke felt a sharp stab of desire with each syllable. She recognized one of the words from before, and once more, curiosity got the better of her

" _Jok_ ," she repeated, testing it out on her tongue. It tasted strange, but her reward was more than worth it. Immediately, Lexa's thrusts sped up, and Clarke shuddered at the extra speed and force. She was going to have bruises on the fronts of her thighs if Lexa kept slamming her into the edge of the desk like this, but she couldn't bring herself to care. Something about being taken this way turned the slight pain into pleasure. "Lexa, what does _jok_ mean?"

Lexa quivered at the question, and her rhythm faltered while she attempted to answer. "Fuck," she groaned, hips twitching as she tried to find her rut again. When she did, it was even harder and faster than before. Her pace was merciless, unyielding, and Clarke had no choice but to surrender to it. "It... means... to fuck..."

 _Fuck._ With the new speed, Clarke couldn't keep peering over her shoulder any longer. She let her face fall back against the desk, barely even noticing the way her cheek stuck to the cool surface. An idea was taking shape in her mind, so tempting that she was willing to fight against the powerful release building inside of her a little longer to see it through. _I want to see how far I can push her. How crazy I can make her. How wild..._

"Knot," she gasped in one of the rare moments when she found the breath. "How do you—what's the word for…?"

Lexa jerked back, and Clarke trembled as a tingling, burning stretch teased her entrance from the inside. Lexa's knot wasn't sliding out of her—she wasn't sure her body was capable of giving it up—but the mere threat was enough to make her sob in a mixture of pleasure and protest. She _needed_ Lexa to stay inside her, craved it more than she had ever craved anything in her life.

" _Hodon_ ," Lexa grunted, her voice tight and strained. It sounded close to breaking, and Clarke bit down on her lower lip as the thickness inside her began to swell again. She hadn't thought it was possible for Lexa to get any bigger, or for her inner walls to open any further, but the heavy, pounding pressure inside her was swiftly proving her wrong.

"Lexa," she whimpered, hurrying to get the words out before she lost them, _"ran ai yu hodon op."_

The request worked even better than she'd hoped. Lexa's hips jerked hard against her ass, and Clarke yelped as her mate's knot pushed insistently into her front wall. Her muscles clenched around it, fluttering and rippling in an effort to coax out the fullness she could feel throbbing inside, but it wasn't quite enough. Lexa was still a mess of tension above her, surging forward over and over, moments away from bliss, but not _quite_ there...

For a moment, Clarke considered abandoning her plan and leaving Lexa on the precipice. Some selfish part of her enjoyed feeling Lexa's desperation, Lexa's desire... all for her. But Lexa's cock felt so good shifting inside her, and Lexa's knot was stretching her in the most delicious way, and the thought of Lexa's release spilling into her— _again_ —had her riding the edge herself. She was much too close to keep teasing. _They_ were much too close.

"Come," she yelped, at the very same moment one of Lexa's hands left her thigh and began snaking between her legs. Rough fingers slid on either side of her clit, trapping the shaft between them and rolling over the tip. Brilliant stars flashed before her eyes, and her inner muscles strained, shivering as though they were about to snap. She knew it wouldn’t take much, knew it wouldn’t be more than another moment before she shattered and Lexa filled her again. "How do you say..."

 _"Strik...wan..."_ Lexa snarled through gritted teeth. " _Klark, beja—"_

With the last of her strength, Clarke pushed herself up onto her elbows one more time, tilting back to meet Lexa's eyes. The fire in them was brighter than anything she had ever seen, and it took her several moments to force her lips to move. "Lexa... _ran ai yu strikwan op."_

The alpha let out a low, broken groan and pumped her hips one more time, harder than Clarke would have believed possible while they were tied so tightly, and then began spilling herself into Clarke’s channel in hot, thick spurts. The omega had been riding the edge, eager to feel Lexa’s response to her words, but when she felt the first hard jet of come hit her inner walls, she broke. Throwing her head back with a scream, she surrendered to the pulses of pleasure coursing through her body. Her inner walls strained to contract around the thickness of Lexa’s shaft and knot, but her orgasm was too powerful to be denied.

The fluttering of Clarke's inner muscles triggered a fresh wave of come from the swollen shaft inside of her. Her entire body shook in ecstasy as she felt it flood her insides, flowing into her deepest places and filling her utterly. She had thought she'd been full the night before, with the Commander on top of her, rutting into her, eyes dark and wild with need, but this was something else entirely. She could feel her belly swelling gently against the desk with just how much of Lexa's seed had spilled into her, and it made her writhe and shudder even harder beneath the alpha.

Her rational mind knew that the implant her mother had placed in her arm when she'd had her first heat would prevent pregnancy, as long as she continued to get the shots that would refresh its store of hormones. But that part of her wasn't in control now. Her inner omega was wrapped up in how amazing it felt to be filled this way, and how wonderful it was that her heat was finally being sated. But even more than that, the seemingly endless rush of come made her imagine how it would feel to be swelling with Lexa's pups, knowing that Lexa's litter was growing inside of her...

The thought made her cry out wordlessly, and clench and shudder even harder around the knot firmly sealing her entrance. She had forgotten that only hours ago they'd both agreed that pregnancy, right now, with things between their people as they were, would be about the worst possible situation. The idea drew her in like iron fillings to a magnet, and soon, it had consumed her utterly.

Lexa let out one more cry of _"Klark!"_ before collapsing against her back, low moans accompanying the last few pulses of warmth from her twitching shaft. Clarke's orgasm lasted a little longer, her inner walls continuing to ripple around her mate, and somehow Lexa found the wherewithal to continue milking her clit through the aftershocks.

Finally, however, she slumped, shivering, against the desk, feeling half-dead with just how hard she'd come. She tried to relax, to enjoy the sensation still humming through her body and the warm weight of Lexa against her back, but her mind was a riot of seething thoughts. She had just come like a freight train thinking about...getting pregnant. With Lexa's pups. With the litter of an alpha she had just met, whom she'd mated with—inadvisably—scarcely twelve hours ago.

 _What's going on?_ she found herself thinking. _I never used to be this way on the Ark._ In truth, pups had barely even entered her mind. There had been far too much going on, and there hadn't been anyone she'd wanted to have them with. She knew it was supposed to be her fate, as an omega, to have a stupidly huge family, but as her mother had told her approximately eight million times, biology and destiny weren't the same thing. So what—

"I can hear you thinking," Lexa mumbled drowsily against the skin of her neck, breath fluttering the sweaty hair over her ears. "What's wrong?"

Clarke tensed at her words, shot through as they were with tenderness and concern that she wouldn't have thought possible from someone like Lexa. The proud, fierce alpha; the imposing Commander, inscrutable under her mask of warpaint; these were not images she could have even begun to associate with the woman draped against her back, fingers tracing lazy circles on her arms. To her terror, she felt an answering swell of affection rise in her chest, causing her to turn her head and press a kiss to the alpha's temple. "Nothing," she said, and tried to sound like she meant it. "Nothing at all. It's just...do you think you could try to get us into a more comfortable position?"

Lexa seemed like she might like to press the issue, but laziness and exhaustion won out. With a low rumble, she managed to maneuver them both down onto the rug, lying on their sides. She wrapped her arms around Clarke's waist and was asleep almost instantly, but Clarke's eyes stayed wide open, staring into the candlelit blackness of the bunker. _Well, shit. I guess I'm really in deep now._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick note: because we don't currently have any Trigedasleng words for filth, we improvised using ordinary words that, when used in specific contexts, become dirty - much like certain words do in English. We're not just talking about roosters, y'know? XP Other words we made up, using the established rules of Trigedasleng as we know them in combination with known words. 
> 
> Edit as of 3.29.2016: Some beautiful soul told Rae the Trigedasleng word for penis. Updated to reflect this.
> 
>  
> 
> **Trigedasleng:**
> 
>  
> 
>  _keryon:_ spirit  
>  _jok ai:_ fuck me  
>  _Beja, Klark. Tel ai op:_ Please, Clarke. Tell me.  
>  _Ran ai yu gapa op:_ Give me your *cunt. (gapa=hole)  
>  _Yu bilaik faya raun ai:_ You're like fire around me  
>  _Yu ste krei os:_ You're so good  
>  _Mou. I gaf yu in...ai gaf eting raun ai *hodon:_ More. I need you...I need all of you around my *knot  
>  _Yu laik ain:_ You are mine  
>  _Ran ai yu hefdong op:_ Give me your cock  
>  _Ai gaf gada yu in:_ I must have you


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WE DID IT KRU! Clexa won the Zimbio poll, we trended Clexa is ours worldwide, and several more major media outlets dragged Jroth for his half-assed apology. As a reward, have an entire (long!) chapter's worth of Ranya sass and Clexa mortification. XD And as usual, tell us what you thought in the comments and on tumblr @raedmagdon and @n1ghtwr1ter.
> 
> [](http://s558.photobucket.com/user/calfaolan/media/green78%20-%20twon%20cover_zpskkb485uj.jpg.html)  
> 

"We should probably go back out there, shouldn't we?"

Lexa whimpered softly and nuzzled her nose further into the crook of Clarke's neck, wishing she could ignore the question. Even though her knot was fading, Clarke's tight inner walls still felt warm and snug around her shaft, and she didn't want to withdraw. Neither did she want to leave the comforting circle of Clarke's arms, or give up the soft kisses Clarke occasionally smeared against the side of her cheek.

When Clarke's nails began raking between her shoulderblades in a gentle effort to rouse her, she finally sighed and answered, "We should." Still, she made no effort to move. If these were the last few seconds she was going to spend with her new mate before facing reality once more, she wanted to stretch them out for as long as possible.

"Lexa..."

She whined a little, canting her hips forward one last time and mouthing the mating mark on Clarke's shoulder.

"Lexa. We can't leave the bunker if you won't get off me."

Reluctantly, Lexa pulled back, leaving Clarke's smooth heat and propping herself up on her elbows. Even though the smell of desire was no longer radiating from Clarke in powerful waves, her nose still wasn't clear of it, and she doubted the bunker would be usable for some time. "Are you all right to stand?" she asked as she sat back on her heels. "Do you need help?"

Clarke tried to sit up, then winced and flopped back down in apparent defeat. "Just give me a minute. I'll be okay." Lexa's brow furrowed with concern and disappointment, but she gave Clarke the space she was asking for. "Actually," Clarke said, seeming to notice her brief sadness, "do you want to grab my bra for me? I guess I should try and put something on before we go out there."

"Bra?" Lexa repeated in confusion. She cast a glance over at the discarded pile that had once been Clarke's clothes.

"The thing with the hooks that holds my tits."

"Ah." With newfound purpose lending her strength, Lexa finally managed to push herself to her feet. After stretching out her sore, overused muscles, she shuffled over to the far wall where they had first come together, scanning the floor for Clarke's bra. She found it a few feet away, and bent down stiffly to grab it. "This design is terrible," she said, huffing in distaste. "It seems difficult to remove, and the hard parts must poke you."

Clarke moaned in something like agreement, and when Lexa turned around, she saw that the omega had finally shifted into a sitting position. Her body was littered with scratchmarks and bruises, several patches of her skin were still glistening wet, and her abdomen still carried a noticeable curve. Lexa felt the softening shaft of her cock give another twitch, but tried her best to ignore the reaction. Clarke's heat was over, and the two of them couldn't selfishly remain in the bunker forever while their people were on the brink of war.

"You need to get me one of those breast band things you were wearing," Clarke said. "It looked pretty comfy."

Lexa nodded, then returned to the middle of the room. She offered Clarke her bra, but her new mate took her outstretched hand instead and used it to haul herself to her feet. The two of them stood face to face, and Lexa suddenly felt dizzy. To her complete surprise, the omega leaned forward, pressing a brief but tender kiss to her lips. "Thanks," she said softly when she pulled away, averting her eyes almost shyly.

"You are welcome," Lexa replied when she remembered how to speak.

Clarke began sliding her arms through the straps, and Lexa watched with interest as she expertly did up the tiny hooks in the back without assistance. "So, what are we going to tell them when we go out there?" Clarke asked as she dressed. "What happens now?"

"We tell our people that there will be no war," she said, frowning slightly. "I believe you when you say the rest of your people could harm us when they come down from the sky, and I believe you when you say that they could be our allies instead. Some will question my decision, but I will quell any discontent." She gave Clarke a slight smile, partially to ease the slowly growing panic in her own chest. "It has been a while since my bodyguards have had the opportunity to stop any assassination attempts."

Clarke's eyes widened, flashing with obvious fear. "You think someone would assassinate you for _not_ starting a war? That's insane, Lexa."

Lexa shrugged. "Perhaps to your people. Ours have a saying: _Jus drein, jus daun._ Blood must have blood."

"I understand wanting to retaliate against someone who attacks you," Clarke said, obviously worried, "but we really had no idea what we were doing. Those flares were to contact our parents up on the Ark. We had no idea they would hit one of your villages..."

"I know," Lexa said. "And that is what I will tell those who argue with me. It will take some effort, and I will have to personally remind a few of them why the Commander's spirit selected me to become _Heda_ , but I will make them listen. Throwing lives away over an accident is foolish and wasteful."

"I'll do my part," Clarke promised. "When my people come down to Earth, I'll make sure they know what you did for us. With our technology and your knowledge of this world, our people could build a good life here together."

 _A good life... together..._ Lexa swallowed, feeling her face heat up. Although she and Clarke hardly knew each other, and the bond they had formed was premature and ill-advised in every way, she couldn't help feeling hopeful. "Perhaps the two of us might spend some time together once we bring about peace." Clarke's eyebrows rose, and Lexa suddenly realized what she had implied. "Time not spent mating, of course. I mean, unless you..." She sighed, shaking her head and starting over. "We wear each other's mating marks, but we hardly know anything about each other. If you are willing, I would like to change that."

Clarke hesitated for a few moments, moments that felt like the longest of Lexa's life, before nodding and giving her a smile that, while brief, seemed to make the sun rise in the bunker. Lexa couldn't help returning it, after huffing out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. She hadn't anticipated how invested she would get in the other girl's acquiescence, but the relief that flooded through her was both welcome and worrisome.

 _Love is weakness._ She had learned that as a young _Natblida,_ absorbing the teachings of the Commander at the _Fleimkepa's_ knee. She had loved anyway, and in the only way she knew how—with her whole heart. And she had had a piece torn out of it for her trouble, with the death of her first mate. Costia had been killed, not only because their world was cruel, but because she had had the misfortune of loving the Commander.

And now this...unanticipated...mating with Clarke. She might as well have laid a feast and invited her enemies to the table. She did not love the Sky girl. How could she? They had only met scant days ago, as leaders on opposite sides of a brewing war. But when she reached inside herself, looking for the place that had belonged to Costia and that she had since thought withered and dead, she found... Well, it could be called a seed. A someday growing in black, charred earth. A maybe.

Clarke made a noise of disgust, and Lexa snapped out of her musings to see the omega attempting to draw her shorts up her legs without actually allowing them to touch her skin. Predictably, it wasn't going well. The alpha couldn't help letting out a quiet snort, but she misjudged the way the sound carried in the still air of the bunker, and was rewarded with a withering look. It only lasted a few moments before melting into a wry grin, however, as Clarke pulled her shorts up the rest of the way with a grimace and a shudder. "Ugh. These are _disgusting_. First order of business when I get home is a wash, and the second is a change of clothes."

Lexa swallowed. She didn't think any of her own clothing was still wearable—it had taken a considerably larger hit of the acid fog than Clarke's had—but she wasn't overly concerned; the weather was mild, and her people did not attribute shame to nudity. However, when Clarke had spoken of _home_ , all of the worries that she had managed to ignore for the last few blissful days came racing back. What state would she find the village in? What state would she find _Polis_ in? Her coalition? Everything she'd worked for, fought for, bled for, could be undone in a matter of just three days, because she'd had the misfortune to fall into a bunker with a girl who fell from the sky... And yet Lexa could not find it in herself to believe, truly, that this was a mistake. It felt more like fate.

Before she could get much further with this nonsense, however, Clarke gave her a look of concern. "Hey, you all right? I think I lost you for a moment there."

"I am fine," Lexa said, lifting her head and attempting to reclaim the mask of Heda that would, for the moment, be her only armor. "Let's go see what we've missed."

***

At the alpha's insistence, Clarke went first. She managed to hold off her mildly grumpy look until she started up the ladder to the hatch, but she'd been hoping for one last glimpse of Lexa's truly spectacular ass before they had to go back to the real world and keep their hands off each other. Her heat was over, but that didn't mean that she couldn't appreciate something that firm, fine, and shapely.

She was contemplating going for one last squeeze before they left the cave, mostly to see if she could make Lexa jump, but then they emerged into the blazing light of a warm, humid afternoon, and all of her attention was taken up with the stabbing pain shooting through her eyeballs. When she had rubbed them enough to discern vague shapes, she became aware of a pair of shadows standing just beyond the exit hatch. Clarke tensed, preparing for a fight (although what she thought she was going to do half-blind and half-naked, she had no idea), but instead of war cries she heard laughter.

“Well _damn,_ Griffin,” came a familiar voice, replete with _very_ familiar mockery. “Now that I see what you were working with, I don’t blame you for spending three fucking days in there. Heh. Three _fucking_ days. See what I did there?” To Clarke’s astonishment, the blurry shape that was Raven turned and offered a very distinctive high five to her companion, whom Clarke did not recognize. “Although I have to say, I bet you anything she’s going to be walking funny for a while yet.”

“I don’t make bets against sure things,” said another voice, one which Clarke didn’t know, but Lexa clearly did. The alpha beside her gave a low growl, but when Clarke turned to look at her, she seemed mortified rather than angry—and she was blushing deeply.

" _Shof op, Onya,"_ Lexa snapped, folding her arms across her chest and angling herself so her naked body wasn't on quite as much display. Unfortunately, the glare of the sunlight didn't offer much room to hide.

"Amusing," the other alpha— _Anya_ —said, a wry smirk twitching at the corners of her lips. "Those are the exact words I would have said to you if I'd been able. You and your _Klark_ scared away all the wildlife days ago."

Clarke groaned while Lexa buried her face in one of her hands. The fact that Raven and Anya had been waiting outside the bunker for them to finish was bad enough. The realization that they had overheard some of their activities was even worse. "Raven, please tell me you two weren't lurking out here and listening in like a bunch of perverts for three whole days," Clarke said, with a healthy mix of disgust and desperation.

"I wish I could, Griffin," Raven said, still grinning broadly, "but everyone else was getting restless—"

Clarke blanched. "Wait. You mean _everyone_ was here?"

"Yes," Anya said, making no effort to soften the blow. "Indra and _Belomi_ led them away when you didn't come out after the first day. We agreed it was best to separate our people while you and Lexa conducted your... negotiations."

Raven nodded in agreement. "Someone had to stay here and keep an ear on you. Octavia was _busy_ with Lincoln _,_ and Finn and Bellamy were both being stupid as usual, so that left me." Her eyes flicked back over to Lexa, settling between her legs without any shame at all. "Honestly, I'm surprised you were able to climb out of the bunker. How do your legs still work after three days of _that_?"

Lexa squirmed, clearly uncomfortable, but Clarke's reaction wasn't so mild. She found herself bristling with unfamiliar emotions, and she took an instinctive step forward to help preserve what little remained of her new lover's modesty. "Hey," she snapped, without really thinking. "Eyes off, Reyes. Don't be rude."

"Okay, okay," Raven said, holding up her hands in surrender. "A little hypocritical of you to be mad when _you_ slept with _my_ boyfriend, but I was just joking. It's not like she's your mate or anythi..." Her voice trailed off, and Clarke saw the moment the pieces clicked together. "Holy shit, she bit you. Holy shit, you bit _her_. _Holy shi—"_

"Stop it, okay?" Clarke said, unsure whether she was demanding or pleading. She rubbed absentmindedly at the sore spot on her neck, covering it with her hand so Raven couldn't keep staring at it. "It just kind of happened..."

"Lexa," Anya said, brow furrowing in concern, _"chit yu fig raun?_ Fucking a _Skayon_ is one thing, but biting her? Taking her as your mate? This news will _not_ be easily accepted. Titus—"

Lexa straightened, taking on a much prouder posture. " _Ai laik_ _Heda_. Titus will accept anything I tell him to accept. So will you, and so will everyone else." One of the alpha's hands came to rest on Clarke's hip, and she shuddered as possessive fingertips splayed out across the curve of her stomach. " _Klark kom Skaikru_ is bound to me, and she and her people will be protected from any retaliation. I expect you to make sure of it, personally."

Anya looked as if she wanted to protest, but in the end, she averted her eyes. " _Sha, Heda. Bilaik yu seiso._ "

"Good. Do you have any spare clothes? I want to change."

While Anya removed the pack from her back, Clarke glanced back over her shoulder, regarding Lexa with a mixture of nervousness and curious fondness. She couldn't help appreciating the way Lexa had stuck up for her, even if the method was a little overly alpha. _Maybe this wasn't such a dumb idea after all. If she's willing to defend me and my people now, maybe there's a chance for peace._

"So, what now?" Raven asked, breaking the awkward silence. "After we chuck you two in the nearest river, I mean."

Clarke considered it for a moment. Although she was strangely reluctant to leave Lexa's side, she knew she should return to the dropship. _Finn and Monty and the others deserve to know that I'm all right and the Grounders aren't a threat anymore. Besides, who knows what Bellamy's been up to without Raven and Octavia there to keep him from being stupid?_

With a sigh, she turned to Lexa. "I guess we should probably split up." At the suddenly wounded look on the alpha's face, she hastened to explain, "I mean, we should both probably go back to our people and try to smooth things over. And then we can meet up again in a few days and start to lay the groundwork for a truce." The tight line of Lexa's body relaxed a bit, but she still looked worried. "Look, I don't want to either," Clarke said, rubbing Lexa's collarbone with her thumb, "but I can definitely tell you that my people won't be too happy if I just show up with a bunch of the people we were almost at war with three days ago and say, 'Hey, we're all friends now!'"

Lexa snorted, looking a bit more at ease. "No, I suppose not. Neither would mine." She darted a glance at Anya, as though suddenly realizing that they weren't alone. Clarke sympathized; it was surprisingly easy, after those last few days in the bunker, to forget that they weren't the only two people in the world. "I might recommend, in fact, that when we reconvene, it would be best to do so at your camp." Clarke opened her mouth to protest, but Lexa continued, "I understand your hesitation, but my people are significantly more likely to be hostile to yours...and I would not want to risk your safety."

Clarke allowed herself a moment to be touched before nodding briskly. "That makes sense. You'll spend a few days there, let people get to know you while we iron out the details of the truce..."

"And then you will come with me to our capitol, where I will introduce you to the twelve Clans as my mate," Lexa said firmly.

Before she had time to process that Lexa had said _twelve_ Clans, Anya interjected. "Perhaps it might be best to see how Tondisi reacts to your new paramour first, Heda," the other alpha said in a low, measured tone that very nearly managed to obscure her worry. "You will be able to use the experience to gauge the possible behavior of the Coalition. I'm sure you will agree that a summit of the twelve Clans is not a situation to be walked into blindly."

Lexa sighed. "As always, _Fos_ , you are right."

Anya snorted and tossed Lexa a bundle of clothing from her pack. "That's been the way of things so long that I'd think you'd be used to it by now." Lexa growled at her under her breath as she began tugging on the shirt and pants, but the other alpha's smirk only widened.

"Now about that bath," Clarke said as cheerfully as she could manage, in the interest of defusing the tension.

Raven grinned. "You just want to see her naked again."

"Shut up and take me to a river, Raven," Clarke said, rolling her eyes and attempting to ignore the fact that the beta was, at least, a _little_ bit right. "Preferably one that doesn't have any snakes in it, though."

"Don't worry, princess, coming right up," the mechanic said. "The only snake that'll be in there with you is—"

"Finish that sentence and it'll be your last," Clarke snapped. "I haven't eaten or washed in three days, and if I don't get to do one of those things in the next five minutes I won't be held responsible."

The loud sigh that Raven let out sounded suspiciously like _withdrawal_ , but she started off down a track through the forest, Anya at her side.

* * *

Despite the worries weighing on her shoulders, Anya couldn't help smirking a little as she and Lexa picked their way through the forest. Their trek had mostly been silent since Clarke and Lexa had said their goodbyes at the river—she and Raven had practically needed to drag them apart—and ever since, Lexa had been pouting. It was very uncharacteristic behavior, not befitting of a Commander at all, and even though she knew she shouldn't take such pleasure in her former Second's sulking, Anya couldn't help her mild amusement.

Keryon _protect her. If her feelings for this Sky girl grow into anything like her feelings for Costia, this is only the beginning._

Despite her distracted state, Lexa did eventually notice that she was being studied. A low growl rumbled in her throat, but it was far from intimidating, and Anya only snorted at the mild, wordless rebuke. _Heda_ could be intimidating when it suited her, but Lexa was made of softer stuff. " _Chil yu au, Seken,_ " she said, half a tease, half a reprimand. "You will see your mate again soon enough, hopefully on better terms."

Lexa abandoned her weak attempts at intimidation and resumed her moping. "I should have gone with her," she sighed, shoulders slumping a little. "It isn't safe for her in the forest alone. What if—"

" _Klark kom Skaikru_ can handle herself. Your omega seems to have no trouble taking charge of a situation when it suits her."

The sly comment didn't register at first, but when it did, Lexa's face flushed. She squirmed uncomfortably and picked up her pace, a pathetic attempt to put a little more distance between them. Anya kept up easily, her smirk spreading wider. " _Nou get yu daun._ I would never dream of telling everyone that all it takes to get the strong, ruthless Commander to expose her belly is a shapely omega with golden hair."

"She's more than that," Lexa protested, with a flash of fire in her eyes.

"I know." Anya met Lexa's glare with sympathy and a gentler smile. "I've seen you pass over a hundred other girls, some of them prettier. Something about her intrigues you. Perhaps you have the burdens of leadership in common as well as... other things."

Lexa's blush deepened, to Anya's immense satisfaction. "Just how much did everyone else hear?" she asked, in a tone that suggested she didn't really want to know the answer.

Anya couldn't resist letting Lexa squirm for a moment before answering. "Screaming, mostly," she offered at last. "Once it became clear that you and _Klark_ weren't coming out, Indra kept our warriors on the other side of the field. I offered to guard the entrance so no one else would overhear..." The corners of her lips twitched up a little further. "Something you have yet to thank me for, by the way."

Lexa heaved a sigh, but eventually, she did offer a grudging nod of thanks. " _Mochof, Fos._ Better you than the entire village, I suppose."

"It is the village you have to impress," Anya agreed. " _Tondisi_ first, then the Coalition. Have you given any thought to what you will tell them about this situation?"

"I will tell them there will be no war. _Skaikru_ did not attack us deliberately. There is no reason for us to retaliate when our people could be allies instead. They have knowledge that could bring about a new age of prosperity for us."

"I agree with you," Anya said, "but others will not be so easily persuaded. What will you say to them when they accuse you of abandoning our traditions and thinking with your knot?"

Lexa's face hardened. _"Ai laik Heda._ I will drag them toward peace and progress kicking and screaming if I must. If any of them think they can lead our people better, they can challenge me to _soulou gonplei_ and prove it with their blade."

"Just don't lose," Anya said, ignoring the ball of worry in the middle of her chest. "The Commander has a nation to lead, and you have a mate and future litter to provide for now."

A brief look of sadness passed over Lexa's face, but it didn't last long. She forced a smile, tilting her chin up. "You trained me, Anya. I know I won't lose.”

The older alpha felt a lump grow in her throat and looked away, under the guise of making certain that they were following the right trail. She couldn't help but be reminded of the first time she had seen Lexa, nine years old and barely sixty pounds soaking wet, and most of that was pent-up rage. But even then she had had so, _so_ much heart, and Anya considered at least half of her work with the young Nightblood to have been teaching her to guard that big heart of hers. She had counted it a success that Lexa no longer wore it quite so openly on her sleeve, but she worried that it could never truly be protected.

"This _Klark_ ," Anya said at last, turning back to the girl walking next to her. Lexa's face had relaxed into a dopey grin, clearly lost in remembrances, but she snapped back to her usual stoic mask as soon as she noticed Anya's regard. "Do you think she will be a good mate to you, and treat you well? I doubt that you have had much time to get to know each other over the last few days, but—"

"Yes, she will," Lexa snapped.

 _"Chil yu au, Seken,"_ Anya said, deliberately keeping her tone light. It had the intended effect—the pheromones pouring from the other alpha mostly subsided, leaving her merely stinking slightly of sex and aggression. "You don't have to defend her to me. Her friend Reivon has been telling me that _Klark_ is kind, brave, smart... although something of a _joka_ , because she slept with another beta that _Reivon_ was planning to mate with, but from what I can tell, she has largely forgiven _Klark_ for that and they've simply decided to hate this boy together. But _Reivon_ has not shared the same sort of intimacy with _Klark_ that you have—" she spoke louder over a thunderous growl from Lexa—"and may not be able to gauge the situation as accurately."

" _Klark_ _is_ all of those things, and more," the Commander said hotly. "She's good, and beautiful, and fierce, and loyal, and—"

 _"Oh, shof op, branwada,"_ Anya said, rolling her eyes heavily. "I see that you are not to be dissuaded. Yes, _Klark_ is yours, no one is going to take her away from you, and you can stop snarling like a pup with a new favorite toy at anyone who comes close."

Lexa crossed her arms with a huff and began walking faster down the path. Laughing, Anya caught up to her, loping easily on longer legs. "I should have known better than to ask you to be objective, as newly mated as you are," she said, grinning at her sulking protégé. "At least she has _Reivon's_ recommendation. For a _Skayon_ , she does seem to be an excellent judge of character—"

Lexa's eyes narrowed, and Anya's stomach sank as she recognized her former Second's expression: that was how she looked when she was going in for the kill. "You seem rather impressed with this _Reivon_."

The older alpha shrugged, attempting to ignore the slight heat she could feel building under the collar of her coat. _It's simply a warm day, and the forest is humid and hot._ "She appears to have her head firmly attached to her shoulders, unlike the rest of her compatriots."

Lexa had clearly smelled blood, however, as was evidenced by the toothy grin that split her features. "Indeed. But something tells me that of all the things her head is attached to, her shoulders were not the most interesting."

Anya rolled her eyes. "She is pleasantly shaped, I'll give you that, but—"

"I knew it!" Lexa crowed, skipping ahead a step down the leaf-strewn trail. "You _like_ her. You want to _kiss_ her, and see what she looks like naked, and—"

" _Shof op_ , or you won't survive long enough to see your precious _Klark_ naked again," Anya growled, making a grab for the other girl. Lexa danced out of her reach, trotting backwards down the path while continuing to taunt her former mentor.

"Anya and _Reivon_ , sitting in a tree—"

"At least it's better than a bunker."

Lexa stopped to consider, frowning. "I...don't know that that's true."

"It _is_ true. In a tree you'd at least get some fresh air, instead of being stuck breathing in your own stink for hours—"

"Oh, _shof_ _op_ , _nomonjoka_ —"

"—and you'd potentially get something to eat besides each other—"

" _Shof_ op, _Onya_!"

Anya stopped to let out a cackle at her protégé’s red-faced glare, but she had plenty more teasing where that came from. Enough, she was sure, to last them all the way home.

* * *

"So..."

Clarke avoided Raven's eyes, stalking through the forest with her gaze fixed straight ahead. She knew _exactly_ what her friend was getting at thanks to the teasing tone, and she wanted no part of the discussion—even if Raven had been kind enough to offer her jacket so she wouldn't have to traipse through the woods in only her underwear. It stank, since her nose didn't want to accept any scent that didn't belong to Lexa, but it was better than being almost naked.

 _Don't say anything,_ she thought, unsure whether she was directing the silent command at herself, or Raven. _Don't respond. Just don't..._

"...how was it?"

An exasperated groan escaped before she could stifle it. "Why are you even asking me that question?" she snapped, aiming a sharp look in Raven's direction. "You listened to the whole thing."

"Yeah," Raven drawled, not at all dissuaded, "but a girl's got a right to be curious. I mean, you _did_ fuck my boyfriend..."

Clarke started to protest. She really hadn't known about Finn and Raven's relationship before she chose to sleep with him, and she had already thoroughly apologized, but she swallowed down most of her anger. Raven was just attempting to get under her skin, as usual. She was starting to suspect that it was the beta's way of trying to be friendly. "Are you seriously asking me if mating with Lexa was better than mating with Finn?"

"Well, yeah," Raven said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "If the two of you spent three whole days fucking like animals and screaming in some strange language, I kind of want to know... even if it's just so I can decide how mad I should be at him when we get back."

Clarke sighed. She could tell that Raven wasn't prepared to drop the subject, and a quick, succinct answer might end the torturous conversation sooner. "Lexa was better," she muttered under her breath, "although that could have been my hormones." It definitely hadn't just been her hormones, although she wasn't about to admit it out loud. Although she wasn't sure why, some part of her was absolutely certain that Lexa would have outshone all her other lovers even if she hadn't been in the midst of a heat fog. _She was so kind, so considerate, so giving, even when she was rough..._

"Wipe your mouth, Griffin. You're drooling."

She wasn't, but she swiped the sleeve of Raven's jacket over her mouth anyway. Her lips were still puffy and tingling from three days of near-constant use, and the soreness between her legs had settled into a throbbing ache. Raven and Anya's pointed comments from earlier came back to her. _They were right. It is a little hard to walk._

"So, what was getting it on with a Grounder like?" Raven asked, trotting along beside her with a wide, devious grin. "Any different than doing it with one of us?" Clarke glared, but it didn't do any good. Raven continued leering, not the least bit discouraged. "Any _dirtier?_ "

"Why do you want to know so badly?"

"No reason... but my romantic life has been a train wreck lately. I've gotta live vicariously through you while I can."

Clarke pressed in on her temples with steepled fingers. trying to gather up what little remained of her patience. "It wasn't dirty," she insisted, even as a blush crept over her face. "Lexa was—" _Sweet, gentle, generous... "—_ um, I mean, except for the intensity, it really wasn't too much different than the other alphas I'd been with, except..." She aimed another glance at Raven, plotting a way to get some useful information out of this awful exchange. She was already horribly embarrassed. She might as well make it worth her while. "Raven, how many alphas have you been with?"

"That's kind of a rude question to ask, isn't it?" Raven said, although she didn't seem offended. "A couple, before Finn. Not like there were enough omegas on the Ark to satisfy them all. Why?"

Clarke squirmed. She was already starting to regret her plan. _But it's too late to back out now. She'll just keep pestering me until I tell her what I was going to say._ "Did any of them... come... a lot?"

Raven started laughing, and her eyes danced with renewed interest. "Oh shit. What do you mean by a lot? I need details, Griffin."

"I shouldn't have asked," Clarke mumbled, not at all pleased by Raven's amusement at her expense. "It doesn't matter..."

“The hell it doesn’t! C’mon, Clarke, spill! No pun intended.”

“Bullshit,” Clarke snapped. “That was definitely on purpose.”

“Okay, yeah, you got me,” Raven said cheerfully. “But for real though, are we talking puddle here, or river, or lake, or—”

“I will give you a million credits to stop talking _right now,”_ Clarke groaned, raking her hand through her damp hair. _And another million just to be back in that bunker. At least Lexa wasn’t this annoying. Of course, she didn’t talk nearly as much… and her mouth was really good at other things..._

Something of Clarke’s thoughts must have shown on her face, because Raven made a fake-sorrowful pout. “Awww, are you missing your Grounder studmuffin already?”

“Shut up, Raven.”

“You are! Oh man, this is too priceless. Wait until everybody back at camp hears about how the princess fell for the big bad Commander!”

“Shut _up,_ Raven!” Clarke snarled. At her bared teeth and angry pheromones, the beta took a step back, hands raised.

“Damn, Griffin, learn to relax,” she said, eyes wide. “I was just messing with you. Man, Anya said you’d probably be cranky, but this is a whole other side to you.”

“I have no idea what you mean,” Clarke sniffed, raising her head and gathering the tattered remains of her dignity before brushing past Raven. She knew it was petty, but she made sure to shoulder the other girl into a tree. She was rewarded with a poke to the back of the head.

“It’s called withdrawal, princess. Look it up,” Raven said. “I would’ve thought Dr. Griffin would make sure you knew that one.” A glazed look came over her face, and she ran her tongue over her lower lip. “Now, she’s one fine-looking alpha...”

Clarke whirled on her. “I am _not_ having withdrawal! And stop talking like that about my mom.” But the beta just grinned at her, unimpressed, and she knew that she wasn’t going to win this one. Raven was too pigheaded—and, if she was being totally honest, she wasn’t she making a particularly convincing case for herself, either.

With a huff, Clarke turned away from the mechanic, striding up the path at a rate just shy of running. Raven caught up to her easily. “Sooooo…Grounder princess has a rocket in her pocket, huh?”

Clarke rolled her eyes. “Oh my god, Raven.”

“Hey, I’ve got more where that came from. I can keep this up all day. You can’t just tell me something like _she comes…a lot..._ and not expect this.”

“Right, why would I expect you to behave like an actual adult?” Clarke asked the forest canopy rhetorically.

“Besides, Anya’s definitely older than me and she was giving it just as good,” Raven said, a little too casually. Clarke’s head swung around, her eyes narrowing.

“Anya, huh?”

“Mmhmm, that’s her name,” the mechanic replied, in a poor attempt at nonchalance. Clarke saw her chance.

“What do you think about her?” the omega said, carefully keeping her tone neutral and her eyes on the trees. “I mean, you spent three days camped out here without killing each other, so she can’t be that bad.”

“Nah, she’s definitely all right, for a Grounder,” Raven said. “She’s pretty funny, actually, once we got past the language barrier. And she taught me all the Grounder swear words, so in case you wanna say dirty stuff to your new bae, I can hook you up.”

“No, thanks, she’s got that covered,” Clarke blurted before she could stop herself. Raven gave her a wicked grin, and she hastened to redirect the conversation. “So I mean…not that I’m _interested_ or anything, but Anya’s not bad, right? For an older alpha, anyway?” _Please, just tell me you’re interested in her—in anyone—other than my mom._

“Oh, she’s got a little something going on,” Raven said, with careless enthusiasm. “I mean, she has legs for days, and an ass to match. And she’s definitely got that ‘I could fight all day and fuck all night and _still_ have more energy than you’ vibe…”

Clarke sprang her trap. “You _like_ her.”

Raven’s head whipped around, her widened eyes telling Clarke that she was absolutely right. “What the fuck are you talking about, Griffin? I do _not!”_

“You totally do! You pretty much just told me that you like her legs, you’ve checked out her ass, and you want her to fuck you all day and night.”

“That is _not_ what I said!”

“That’s what I’m gonna tell everybody back at camp that you said,” Clarke said gleefully. “’Hey guys, guess who’s next in line to join Team Grounder Pounder?’”

“Yeah? Well, what do you think they’re gonna say to _you?”_

Raven’s tone of voice had been teasing, but the forest suddenly felt even more airless than usual to Clarke. She worried at her lip. _Shit, what_ will _they say? They were hard enough on Octavia, and she isn’t their leader. Bellamy almost_ killed _Lincoln. How are they going to react when they find out that_ I _mated with one of them?_

Raven noticed her sudden dip in mood and hastened to correct it. “Hey, I’m sure it won’t be that bad. I mean, we’re not going to war with them anymore, right?”

“Yeah,” Clarke said, “but something tells me that’s not how they’re going to interpret it.”

They walked in silence for a while, although Clarke’s head buzzed with all the nasty comments she could imagine hearing. _Grounder pounder… omega whore… stupid slut couldn’t keep it in her pants. Now she’s gonna have Grounder pups…_ Clarke caught herself rubbing at the slight bump under the skin of her arm where her implant rested. _At least I won’t have that to worry about._

The landscape around them was becoming more familiar with every step they took, and Clarke found herself torn. On the one hand, she couldn’t wait to get back to the dropship, to a bed and a proper bath and actual food. On the other… An image rose to her mind of a crowd of sneering faces, slurs and vitriol pouring from their lips.

A hand on her shoulder disrupted her dark musings, and she turned, surprised, to see Raven smiling slightly at her. “Look, I’m not gonna bullshit you, Clarke. Some people are gonna get shitty. But there’s just as many of us who are gonna stick with you. I’d much rather have you leading us than Bellamy. So don’t listen to those morons, all right?”

Clarke did her best to return Raven’s smile. “I’ll try.”

“Good. Fuck ‘em. Or…maybe not. I mean, that was what got us into this mess in the first place, right?”

Clarke growled at her and punched her in the shoulder—not hard. Raven just laughed at her. And then the forest was opening up before them, revealing the clearing with the dropship camp. Smoke rose from the firepit, and they could hear the rowdy sounds of their fellow Delinquents as they worked to prepare breakfast. “Home sweet home,” Raven muttered, and Clarke sucked in a breath.

“Well, here goes.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Trigedasleng:**
> 
> _Natblida:_ Nightblood  
>  _Shof op, Onya:_ Be quiet, Anya.  
>  _chit yu fig raun:_ What were you thinking?  
>  _Ai laik Heda:_ I am the Commander  
>  _Sha, Heda. Bilaik yu seiso:_ Yes, Commander. It is as you say.  
>  _Chil yu au, Seken:_ Calm down, Second.  
>  _Nou get yu daun:_ Don't worry.  
>  _Mochof:_ Thank you  
>  _nomonjoka:_ motherfucker


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh boy. So we have one more chapter of the awkward, and then...Clexa reunion! But we also have our ladies being badass by themselves, because that's the beauty of this ship: they're just as amazing on their own as they are together. As always, let us know what you thought in the comments, and come yell at us on tumblr @raedmagdon and @n1ghtwr1ter!
> 
> And as for 3x09...while I certainly don't blame any of you who decide to watch, please be aware that it's supposed to be pretty gruesome and some of you might find it triggering. Take care of yourselves, kru. We love you. _Ste yuj!_
> 
> [](http://s558.photobucket.com/user/calfaolan/media/green78%20-%20twon%20cover_zpskkb485uj.jpg.html)  
> 

Lexa straightened her shoulders, bracing herself as she and Anya approached the large, imposing statue near the outskirts of  _ Tondisi.  _ No matter how long she had spent in Polis, first training for her Conclave as a young  _ Natblida, _ then as the Commander of the Twelve Clans, the Woods Clan would always feel something like home. The sight of the giant seated figure, silent and unchanging throughout the years, was usually a comfort to her, but this time, it seemed to loom over her in judgment.

As always, Anya noticed her apprehension.  _ "Yu nou souda fir raun, Heda," _ she said, with a slight nod of her head. "You can't let them see your doubts. You must present this decision to them as if it wasn't just the best course of action, but the only course. Do not give them any reason to question it."

Lexa nodded back, trying not to read too much into the fact that Anya had called her  _ Heda _ instead of  _ seken,  _ even though they were still in private. Privately, she wished the two of them could remain alone for a little longer—or even better, that she was back in the bunker with Clarke. She knew she couldn't cast aside her responsibilities to her people so easily, but it had felt wonderful to live in their own little world, even though it had only lasted three days.

" _ Ait, Onya. Kom otaim," _ she said when she realized her former mentor was waiting for a response. "This decision is bigger than Clarke and I and... whatever will become of us. If we can make peace with  _ Skaikru _ and adopt their knowledge, it has the potential to make our lives better for generations. I refuse to let a few sour, backward opinions ruin that opportunity."

Anya gave her an approving smile. "You speak like a Commander. Good. Let's hurry. I'm sure Indra will be pleased to see you."

Lexa wasn't so certain of the truth in that statement, but she let it fade into silence unchallenged. Indra could be quick to anger, but she wasn't a fool, either. With a powerful enough argument, her opinion could be swayed. She was far more concerned about objections from her more conservative followers, such as Gustus and Quint, the Ambassadors of the other Clans, and Titus. Thinking of the  _ Fleimkepa  _ and the lectures on love and duty he was sure to deliver when he discovered that she had taken a second mate made her nose wrinkle in distaste. She remembered all too well what his reaction to Costia had been.

Her worry tapered into melancholy, and she ran her fingertips over the old, faded scar on the side of her neck. _I wonder what you would think of my choice, Costia, if you could have seen it. In many ways, she reminds me of you. She is wise and level-headed and very beautiful, although she clearly lacks your patience._ Absentmindedly, her fingers moved to the other side of her throat, where Clarke's mark still burned on her skin. _I think you would approve of her._ _You always told me love was worth having, even if one of us died. I just never thought it would be you._

_ "Heda?"  _ Lexa lowered her hand, turning to look at Anya.  _ "Oso ste hir." _

They had arrived at the village at last. She could smell the midday cookfires and hear the sound of bustling people. Several guards peered down from the tops of the walls, but when they caught sight of her, they lowered their bows without being ordered. She saw them whispering to each other, but she didn't let her gaze linger. Instead, she stared at the gate. It opened after a moment, and she passed through with Anya at her side, holding her shoulders straight and her head high.

_ Ai laik Heda. They will obey my decisions, and all our lives will be better for it. _

When she stepped into the city itself, she wasn't surprised to see a small crowd waiting for her. Indra and several warriors, including the faithful Gustus, stood ready to greet her. Judging by their faces, all of them were listening expectantly, waiting for her speak. "The negotiations were a success," she said in a carrying voice, refusing to let the stares weaken her. " _ Skaikru _ is no longer a threat to  _ Trikru _ , or any other Clan. Their people wish to join ours in an alliance, and in the spirit of peace, they have pledged to share their knowledge and resources with us."

Disbelief was plain on all of her people’s faces, and low muttering swept through the crowd like wind through grass. After a moment, Indra stepped forward, clearly struggling to control herself. “ _ Heda, _ the Sky People have proven their treachery several times over. How can we know that this time will be different?”

Lexa sucked in a breath.  _ Here it comes.  _ “Because I have taken their leader,  _ Klark kom Skaikru, _ as my mate.” She drew aside the collar of Anya’s shirt to expose Clarke’s fresh bite. Her revelation was greeted by a chorus of gasps and widened eyes, and the muttering resumed—louder, though, and harsher. Lexa forced herself to keep her head high, and was ready to meet Indra’s eyes when they flicked back up to hers.

“ _ Heda,  _ we knew that you had entered the bunker with the  _ Skayon  _ omega for shelter and were trapped there, on account of her entering heat. But to have marked her, and allowed her to mark you…”

“In order to secure their loyalty completely,” Lexa said firmly. “The Sky People can be useful allies, or they can be dangerous enemies. While we have the greater numbers, their weaponry is superior to our own, and I have been informed by  _ Klark kom Skaikru  _ that they are merely the first of their number to come down from the sky. There are many more, and they will be on our ground soon.”

“We are not afraid to fight!” Indra hissed through clenched teeth, taking a step closer. Lexa swallowed the growl that threatened to escape at the other alpha’s aggression. She knew that she needed to take her guidance from Anya, and not provoke the general into a show of dominance. She knew that she’d win, but that was not the point: a Commander who needed to prove her strength that way was no Commander.

“Neither am I,” Lexa said, keeping her voice level. “I came from Polis with the intent of eliminating the threat to  _ Trikru.  _ And that threat  _ has  _ been eliminated, peacefully, through my union with  _ Klark kom Skaikru.” _

_ “Jus drein jus daun!”  _ The words came from Indra, forced out in a growl, but others swiftly repeated them, and louder. The war chant of her people swept the village, a susurrus that swelled into a roar. Soon Tondisi echoed with the voice of its citizens’ rage, and it was all Lexa could do to stand firm before it.

She let it go on for a while, knowing that they needed it, needed a chance to voice their anger and fear and sorrow for what had been lost, but eventually she held up her hand. The familiar gesture stopped the chanting immediately, to Lexa’s relief – she had not completely lost her hold on them. “ _ Jus drein jus daun,”  _ she repeated. “That is our way. If death has no cost, life has no worth. But if a child were to harm another in a training accident, would we see that they were harmed in the same way? What purpose would that serve, to have two young warriors injured?” The faces staring at her were blank. She hurried to assuage their confusion.

“When  _ Skaikru  _ fell to the ground, they were like children,” Lexa explained. “They had little knowledge of what life here would be like, and they did not know our customs, our ways. But they have proven their desire to learn, to live among us in peace and harmony, by pledging their leader’s life to me. The strength of a mating bond cannot be doubted.”

No one openly disagreed, but the village still hummed with discontented murmurs. “ _ Skaikru  _ will learn our ways,” Lexa said, in a voice ringing with finality. “They will honor our traditions. And in return, they will give us their knowledge and their  _ tek.  _ They have people skilled in healing and in building, and they will use that knowledge to heal the wounds they have dealt, and repair the damage that they did, when they did not know any better.”

“And when will our dead be avenged, Commander?” The words came, harsh and scathing, from the throat of another alpha, who had pushed his way to the front of the throng. His face was heavy and battle-scarred, and his eyes were bright and cold. “When will we have justice for the lives our people lost at their hands?”

“This  _ is  _ justice,” Lexa insisted, narrowing her eyes at Quint. He was one of her generals, and a fine warrior, but he had no head for the strategy and tactics of a campaign. He was an excellent leader of soldiers, and could plan a battle brilliantly, but he did not have the foresight and understanding that it took to win a war. “Instead of demanding more lives, more death, and more blood, they will repay us by enriching the lives of those who survived. Do you not think that the dead would rest easier knowing that their  _ houmon  _ and  _ yongon  _ were better housed, and were less likely to die of the fevers that sweep their villages each spring?

“No,” she said, and made sure that her voice carried, because she was no longer speaking to Quint alone, but to all of her people. Her words were for Tondisi today, but someday soon they would be spoken to the leaders of the twelve Clans, and they would know that her laws had changed. “I will not waste more of our lives in killing those who meant no harm. I will not spill more of our people’s blood in pursuit of a fruitless retribution.  _ Ai laik Heda, en disha ste ai hedon.” _

She layered her voice thickly with alpha command, and let her pheromones unfurl with the heady stink of dominance. And it worked. Starting with Indra, one by one her people fell to their knees, lifting their chins to expose their throats in submission. Quint was the last, but finally, he too acknowledged her strength. He dropped to the ground and averted his eyes, albeit grudgingly.

Soon, she stood alone, a tall oak in the middle of a field of kneeling bodies. Even Anya had dropped to her knees, and Lexa regarded her for a moment out of the corner of her eye. The older alpha returned the look in silence, but Lexa did not miss her small nod of approval. She still needed to be cautious, and vigilant, and uncompromising when it came to her choice, but it bolstered her confidence to know that her former mentor approved. She  _ was _ Heda, and she had meant what she said to Anya on the way back to  _ Tondisi _ . She would drag her people into this alliance, over a few corpses if she had to, as long as it meant securing peace and prosperity for the lives she was responsible for.

* * *

Although Clarke knew sneaking into camp without being noticed was impossible—there were armed guards on the walls, and despite her vigorous scrubbing at the river, she still stank of sex and alpha—she still tried to make her entrance as subtle as possible. She didn't want the entire camp to witness her walk of shame, especially since Raven's jacket didn't offer much modesty. When the first few delinquents caught sight of her, she ignored their stares, lifting her head high and continuing on toward the dropship as if she wasn't scratched and bruised to hell and wearing nothing but a damp pair of underwear.

_ Just breathe, _ she told herself when her chest began to burn, a mixture of fear and lack of air.  _ Mating with Lexa was impulsive, but you don't have to be ashamed of it. This alliance is going to benefit all of us. All you have to do is help everyone else see that. _

The muttering around her grew louder, and her skin began to crawl and burn. She had obviously picked a bad time, because everyone seemed to be out and about for breakfast, and the few that weren't soon emerged from their tents at the sound of the commotion. Clarke sighed. It was probably better this way, ripping the bandage off in one go...

"Hey, clear out and give her some room," Raven snapped, taking a protective stance beside her. "You could at least let her get some damn clothes on before you look at her like that, you perverts."

"You're calling  _ us  _ the perverts?" The voice that spoke up was familiar, and Clarke had to stifle a groan when she saw Bellamy make his way to the front of the group, forcing the others to part for him with a mixture of rough jostling and the smell of dominance. "Princess just spent three days banging a Grounder off in the woods."

Raven looked as if she was about to object, but Clarke held up her hand, touching the side of the beta’s arm in a soothing gesture. "It's all right," she said, layering her voice and movements with as much receptiveness and calm as possible. "I need to explain this anyway..."

"You'd fucking better," Bellamy said. "While  _ you've _ been busy 'negotiating your alliance', I've been keeping shit together here. There are Grounder patrols everywhere, spying on us, tracking our movements. We can barely go out and hunt anymore."

Despite Bellamy's angry, condescending tone, Clarke was slightly impressed. She had half-expected him to do something stupid, like shoot any Grounder that came near the dropship in the name of defense. "That's going to change," she said, raising her voice to address everyone else. "Commander Lexa and I managed to come to a truce. She's going to call off her forces, forgive us for burning her village, and show us all how to live here so we won't starve."

"Forgive  _ us _ ?" someone else said, with a great deal of wounded dignity. Clarke turned to see Jasper standing slightly behind Bellamy's left shoulder, his face screwed up in anger. "They've been the ones killing us since we got here! I almost died because of them. They started this war in the first place. Are we supposed to pretend like it's over just because  _ you _ decided you wanted to rut with one of them?"

There were several murmurs of agreement, and Clarke's heart sank.  _ I should have known it wouldn't be this easy. _

"I'm not asking you to pretend anything,” she said, refusing to let her disappointment show. “They killed some of our people because we invaded their territory. We burned  _ an entire village _ of theirs to the ground by accident. But none of us want this war to happen, and there's no reason for us to keep killing each other. If we're going to live here on Earth, that means learning to work with the people who were here first."

“The people who tried to kill us when we got here, you mean!” came Jasper’s angry shout, and Clarke heard a chorus of voices agreeing with him. To her surprise, she felt anger rising in her chest.  _ We came down here like invaders, right into the middle of their turf. Our flares burned one of their villages. We’ve seen what their life here is like: nasty, brutish, and often short. It makes sense that their policy is to spear first and ask questions later. _

But she knew that she wouldn’t get anywhere with anger. And she could see the other side of it too. From Jasper’s perspective, and many of the others, they had been cast off from the world they’d always known to a new one, one they’d thought to be an uninhabited playground, but it had made it known that they weren’t wanted here either. Looking at the Delinquents assembled before the dropship, she saw their exhaustion, their frustration, their fear. And it made sense: hideously mutated animals, terrifying illnesses, and now hostile natives who would kill them as soon as look at them? It made sense that they’d be confused, angry, even hostile themselves.

No, what was needed, Clarke thought, was patience.  _ I need to make them see the Grounders’ side of things, the same way I did with Lexa. Well… maybe not  _ exactly  _ the same way. _

“Look,” she said, careful to keep her voice firm but low and soothing, “I get it, okay? I’ve been here too, with the rest of you, from the beginning. I know it seems unfair, and like we did nothing to provoke them, but—”

“That’s because we didn’t!” another voice shouted from somewhere in the crowd. Clarke didn’t recognize it, couldn’t tell who’d spoken, but it didn’t matter anyway. Everyone else was already agreeing, and loudly.

“Will you let her finish a fucking sentence?” Raven snapped, taking a protective step in front of Clarke, her hands balled into fists and her lip curled up in a snarl. Clarke was about to step in again, tell her that she needed to do this herself, but then Bellamy stepped forward. Clarke had to physically stop herself from recoiling. He stunk even more than usual of alpha and aggression, and with her nose so recently tuned to Lexa’s scent, it was difficult to bear without gagging.

“Why should we?” he said, crossing his arms over his chest. “Why should we trust anything you say? You’re  _ mated  _ to one of them now, right? That’s what that bite means.” He leveled a finger at the mark on her throat, and she was aware of a collective intake of breath, and a leaning in to get a closer look. “You didn’t just spend three days rutting with one of them; that’s not enough for our princess. No, you went all the way, didn’t you?”

All at once, all of the fight rushed out of Clarke. The last three days, without food and with very little rest, were catching up with her all at once, and the amount of eyes on her was dizzying. She swayed a bit, and felt Raven’s hand come up to steady her elbow, subtly, even as she was shouting back at Bellamy, “Hey, that’s pretty rich coming from you, huh?  _ Your own sister  _ is mated to a Grounder too!”

Bellamy stepped closer, the sneer gone from his face and replaced by something dark and dangerous. “Don’t you fucking talk about my sister, Raven.”

“Oh, did I hit a nerve?” the mechanic snapped, getting up in his face. “Should we not be having this conversation? Is there something you’d like to share with the class, Bellamy?”

“I  _ said  _ don’t talk about Octavia like th—”

“I can speak for myself!”

Clarke whirled. The other omega was standing just inside the gates to the compound, wearing a familiar mulish expression. Clarke didn’t see Lincoln with her, but she guessed that made sense. It was going to be hard enough to get the Arkers to understand without the presence of a rogue Grounder in their camp. But as Octavia stalked forward, her glare fixed directly on her brother, Clarke felt her spirits rise a bit. She and Octavia might have had their differences in the past, but right now the other girl was probably the only one in the camp who truly understood her position.

Octavia planted herself at Clarke’s other side, arms crossed over her chest. Bellamy’s eyes blazed at her, but she glared right back at him. "You should be ashamed of yourself," she said, addressing Bellamy directly, but also the rest of the crowd. "Don't you remember what life was like up on the Ark? One mistake, and people used it to treat us like dirt for the rest of our lives— _ if  _ we didn’t just get floated! No one wanted to give us a chance. We were completely disposable. That's why they sent us down here, isn't it?  _ Isn't _ it?"

The crowd remained silent. Clarke silently counted the heads that she saw turned to the ground, unable to meet Octavia’s furious glare.

"The Grounders killed some of us, and we killed some of them, but at least they want to give us a fucking chance. They think we can be useful. They  _ want _ us to join them. And if we write them off for one mistake, we're doing exactly what the Ark did to us. At least they don't think we're garbage. If we make this work, we could be heroes. We could show everyone we aren't just worthless criminals. I don't know about you, but I'm tired of being looked at like I'm garbage just for being born. I want to do something useful with my life. What about you?"

Murmurs rushed through the group of onlookers, and Clarke took charge again, building on Octavia's momentum. "Octavia's right," she said, pushing past Bellamy so everyone else could see her clearly, standing proud and unafraid. "I'm not saying we have to trust them blindly, and if they betray us, I'll be the first one with a gun in my hand, mate or no mate. But they want to work with us. That's more of a chance than the Ark ever gave us. They can show us how to build a new life here, a life where we can be free. Do you want food? Supplies? They've got plenty of it. Shelter other than this old dropship that's practically falling apart? They've got whole cities down here."

She gestured out at the forest beyond their camp, and every eye followed her. "We don't know the first thing about surviving out here. They do. And if we help them, they can help us. If we do this, we won't be remembered as delinquents, or a failed experiment. We're going to be remembered as the ones who made life on Earth possible again."

Gradually, the muttering began to change in tone. Instead of shouting, there were a few nods of agreement, some grudging, but others enthusiastic. When Clarke saw Bellamy give a reluctant incline of his head, glancing between her and Octavia, she knew she had won his support.  _ I might have fallen into it by accident, but I know this is the right decision. Working with Lexa and the Grounders is going to make things better for everyone. _

"Well done, Griffin," Raven said, in a low enough voice so the entire crowd couldn't hear. "Looks like you've got most of them on our side for now."

Clarke shook her head. "Credit goes to Octavia," she said, nodding in the other omega's direction. "That was smart, reminding them of what they could be."

"It's the truth," Octavia said. "I'm grateful to be down here with a fresh start, and they should be too." She turned toward Bellamy. "Clarke's going to need your support on this, Bell. We've got a real chance here. You always hated life up on the Ark too... hated having to lie for me and hide. Let's do better this time, before the rest of the Ark comes down and tries to turn things back the way they were. This time, they're going to be the ones following us."

That got Bellamy to offer them a rare smile. "Gotta admit, it'll be funny to see the looks on their faces... Chancellor Jaha and all the Councilors are going to shit themselves when they find us with an army of savage Grounders at our backs. They'll have to treat us with respect."

"They won't have a choice," Clarke agreed. "But this isn't just about revenge."

"Yeah, I know," Bellamy said, more than a little sourly. His eyes fell on her mating mark, and Clarke had to will herself to remain still.

"She did that for us, Bellamy," Raven insisted, placing her hands on her hips. "That mark is proof that Lexa isn't just going to change her mind and murder us all. Do you think she'd be dumb enough to kill the omega she chose as her mate? It's basically an alliance contract."

"Doesn't mean I have to like it," Bellamy grumbled.

"You didn't listen to them fuck for three whole days," Raven retorted. "You don't get to complain."

Bellamy made a disgusted face, but didn’t demur. Instead, he looked to Octavia. “Where’s  _ your  _ Grounder?”

“Somewhere he doesn’t have to deal with you breathing down his neck,” the omega said. Bellamy growled, but his sister only lifted an eyebrow at him, daring him to challenge her. Clarke most likely would have laughed, but she was all of a sudden conscious of just how little sleep she’d gotten over the last few days, and how little food, and how bad her clothes smelled. They needed to wrap this up or she was going to pass out on her feet.

Raven seemed to have reached a similar conclusion, because after catching Clarke’s weary look she lifted her head and yelled, “Okay, show’s over, people! Don’t you all have chores to do or something?”

With some further muttering and one good-natured “Screw you, Reyes!” from a boy Clarke didn’t recognize, the Delinquents, who had already begun to lose interest once they realized that Clarke and Bellamy weren’t going to finally duke it out, were convinced to disperse. Bellamy and Octavia were soon embroiled in a low, furious argument about—well, she really didn’t care. Sibling stuff, Clarke figured—it didn’t need to concern her. Right now, the only thing she gave half a shit about was food and a bed. The fresh clothes could wait.

Clarke attempted to take a step towards the dropship’s welcome darkness, but the ground didn’t seem to want to cooperate – it moved away from where she wanted to place her feet, and she wobbled alarmingly. Luckily, Raven noticed and caught her elbow just in time. “You look like shit, Griffin,” she said. Clarke threw her a dirty look, but the mechanic’s voice had held a note of concern.

“Look, let me get you something from breakfast,” Raven said, gesturing towards the cookfires where meat sizzled tantalizingly. “Do you think you can make it to the dropship on your own?”

Clarke took stock of the distance. What had appeared quite close all of a sudden seemed very far away when she could barely stand on her own. But at the same time, the thought of walking all the way over to the fires with Raven, and  _ then  _ back to the dropship, felt like an impossible journey. Torn, she bit back a low whine.

“I can take her.”

Clarke squeezed her eyes shut. That voice belonged to the one person she least wanted to talk to right now, aside from her mother. She felt Raven’s hand tighten on her elbow.

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed, Finn, but she’s already taken.”

Clarke opened her eyes to see the other beta staring at her, his kind blue eyes wistful. Looking into them had once made her stomach flutter, she realized, but right now it just made her feel more tired.

“That’s not what I meant,” Finn said, his words directed to Raven but his eyes still on Clarke. Bland as it was, the mechanic’s scent betrayed a trace of anger, but when she spoke her voice was cold.

“Yeah, whatever. Look, Clarke, if you want I can help you get there and then go get you something—”

But Clarke had made her decision. Raven hadn’t just spent the last three days mating with barely a break, but an impromptu campout with a Grounder alpha she couldn’t be quite sure wouldn’t kill her in her sleep couldn’t have been a cakewalk either. She could handle Finn. “I’ll be fine, Raven. Thanks,” she said, giving the beta a tired smile. “I definitely wouldn’t say no to some food, though.”

“Okay,” Raven said, “but I’ll be back in like five minutes. Or maybe two. You never know.” With a final glare in Finn’s direction, she jogged off towards the cookfires, already shouting at Jasper to leave some for the rest of us, goddammit.

Finn let out a low sigh and then took Raven’s place at her elbow. Clarke was abruptly grateful for the barrier of the other girl’s jacket, because she didn’t really feel like being touched by anybody right now. He moved like he wanted to get closer, but Clarke warned him away with an exhausted glare and he let out another quiet breath. “Let’s get you inside, princess.”

Deciding it wasn’t worth it to fight him on the nickname, Clarke allowed him to help her up the ramp into the dropship, and over to one of the unoccupied bunks. She half sat, half fell onto it with a sigh, barely able to sit up long enough to pull off her boots. When she had first fallen to Earth, she remembered hating the hard mattresses and scratchy sheets, but right now they might have been the highest thread count offered in the Ark’s commissary. With a sigh of pure relief, Clarke relaxed onto the bed and prepared to shut her eyes—only to realize that Finn was still standing there, giving her that mournful look. She sighed. “What’s up, Finn?”

He sounded startled, and a little wounded. “I just…figured we should talk.”

“I don’t really know what we still have to talk about,” Clarke said. She knew it wasn’t true, but she was  _ tired, _ and he knew that.

“Really? Because you just went running off with that Grounder alpha when the acid fog came, and then when you come back three days later, you’re  _ mated  _ to her.” He looked at her expectantly, but when she didn’t say anything, he continued with a bit more heat. “I just…thought that we meant something to each other.”

Clarke sighed. “We did, Finn. And we might still, if you hadn’t neglected to mention the fact that you still had a girlfriend up on the Ark—”

“Who I thought I’d never see again!”

“—and hadn’t been hitting on me not even ten minutes after we hit the ground,” Clarke finished, fixing him with a glare that contained the last of her ire.

Finn’s shoulders slumped. “I guess I owe you an apology.”

“I guess you do. But more than me, you owe Raven an apology. That’s a really shitty way to treat somebody you’re supposed to love.”

“It was complicated.”

“I doubt Raven feels the same way,” Clarke told him. “You should probably talk to her about that.”

“I don’t really think she wants to hear anything I have to say,” the beta mumbled, looking at his boots.

“Maybe not, but you owe it to her to try anyway,” Clarke said, and then shut her eyes, pointedly turning her back to him. After a long moment, she heard him heave a sigh, and then the clang of his boots as he headed back down the ramp. Once he’d gone, Clarke let out a sigh of her own.  _ Well,  _ that  _ could’ve gone better,  _ she thought. But whatever she’d had with Finn was done—and, if she was being honest with herself, had been for a lot longer than she’d known Lexa. If he wanted to believe that it was simply because she’d found herself a mate…well, that was his choice. But Clarke knew she was going to sleep a little easier from now on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Trigedasleng:**
> 
> _Yu nou souda fir raun:_ You must not be afraid  
>  _Ait, Onya. Kom otaim:_ Right, Anya. As always.  
>  _Oso ste hir:_ We are here.  
>  _houmon:_ spouses  
>  _yongon:_ children  
>  _Ai laik Heda, en disha ste ai hedon:_ I am the Commander, and this is my law.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again for all of your fantastic comments and questions! I know we say this all the time but it's true: we love you guys, and we're so grateful for your kindness and enthusiasm. And speaking of which...next chapter is gonna include more smut, and we want to hear what you guys want to see! How shall Clexa do the do? Let us know in the comments or on tumblr @n1ghtwr1ter and @raedmagdon!
> 
> [](http://s558.photobucket.com/user/calfaolan/media/green78%20-%20twon%20cover_zpskkb485uj.jpg.html)  
> 

Lexa leaned forward on her horse, peering ahead through the forest in the vain hope that she would catch a glimpse of the _Skaikru_ encampment. The past hour had been full of nothing but trees, trees, and more trees, and although a simple ride through the woods normally wouldn't have left her so agitated, she couldn't help shifting impatiently in her saddle. It had been two days since she had last seen Clarke, and despite her efforts to remain focused on more important things, the separation was starting to wear on her.

Newly mated pairs rarely left each other's sight. Keeping close company for weeks or even months after a bond had been formed was considered normal. Despite the urgent matters her position required her to attend to, even she and Costia had managed to steal a few days for themselves. But not this time. As soon as Clarke's heat had ended and they had been capable of reason again, they had been ripped apart. Lexa had been able to put it out of her mind at first, with the need to make her people understand her decision hanging over her head, but as the days passed, her pining had grown worse.

Bad enough, it seemed, for Anya to take notice. "Don't ask me how much further it is again," she said from atop her own horse, continuing to face directly ahead. "We'll get there when we get there."

Lexa huffed with wounded dignity, but didn't say anything in response. It was true that the question had leapt to her mouth more often than was appropriate, but she still didn't appreciate Anya pointing it out. She couldn't help herself. The two days she had spent without Clarke's scent had smelled all wrong and left her run down and exhausted. The two nights she had spent without Clarke's body pressed against hers had been fitful at best, torturous at worst. She had barely slept at all, and when she had, her dreams had been full of warm lips and soft skin and shining golden hair.

"You might want to start thinking about what you intend to say and do when you enter the _Skaikru_ camp," Anya continued, giving her a sidelong look at last. " _Linkon_ has assured me that we will _gouthru klir,_ but I doubt all of them will be as glad to see us as _Klark_ will be to see you."

Even though she knew she had far more important things to worry about—Lexa couldn't help smiling at the thought that Clarke would be glad to see her. She certainly hoped so. In addition to the confusing feelings that came with missing a woman she barely knew, she couldn't help worrying about how their reunion would play out. Their farewell had been fond enough, but she remembered Clarke's moment of conflict back in the bunker. _With two days to herself, perhaps some of her doubts may have returned..._

"Oh, stop staring at me like that," Anya muttered, shaking her from her thoughts.

Lexa's brow furrowed. "I am not staring at you."

"Oh?" Anya rolled her eyes. "You _aren't_ staring at me like a pup who just had her favorite treat taken away? _Mela op, blinka au, Heda._ I hope seeing your mate clears your head, because it seems to have floated off somewhere among the clouds."

Lexa couldn't deny it. Her head _was_ in the clouds, with the girl who had fallen from the sky, and it was an effort to drag herself back down to earth. " _Shof op. En ste set yu op._ " She doubted any of the warriors she had brought along could truly hear their conversation, but she didn't want to chance it. Gustus had been even surlier than usual over the past few days, and though she had left Quint behind on purpose, she suspected he would hear all about it if she managed to make herself look a fool.

"Have you given any thought to how you will greet _Reivon_?" she asked in a hushed voice, eager to make Anya just as uncomfortable as Anya had made her. "I thought you would enjoy the chance to see her again. That's why I offered to let you come along—"

"I came along for your sake," Anya insisted, the corners of her lips twitching into a frown. "Not all of us are... sentimental... enough to fall in love at first sight."

“I am not in love with _Klark kom Skaikru,”_ Lexa insisted, but her statement ended on a questioning lilt that made Anya quirk an eyebrow in her direction. She attempted to warn her former mentor off from further comment with a growl, but Anya pretended not to hear.

“Of course not,” the other alpha said smoothly, pretending to adjust the lengths of her reins. “That would be ridiculous. You have only known her for a week, and most of that time was spent rutting on as many different surfaces as you could find, in as many different ways as your limited imaginations could conjure up.”

Lexa growled again, a bit louder, but Anya only smirked. “It _would_ be ridiculous,” she agreed, eyeing the older alpha suspiciously. She knew this was a trap somehow—it was Anya, it had to be—but she hadn't detected whatever it was yet.

“Indeed. That's why you didn't spend the last day and a half wandering around in a gloom, snapping at anyone who dared to address you. And of course you didn't slink off to your tent to mope every time you had a chance. And you certainly didn't whine to me this morning about how you slept terribly, and you just don't think you can sleep well without your _Skaikru_ cuddle toy—”

Lexa let out a high snarl and dug her heels into her horse’s sides. He let out a snort of protest but charged forward up the forest path, breaking into a sloppy, reluctant trot that nevertheless moved her to the head of their line. Kenon, the forward scout, gave her an alarmed look when he heard her approach, but she waved him off. _“Ai na lufa au_.”  With a respectful nod, he pulled up his reins and drew back to the rest of the caravan, leaving her alone to sulk.

She knew that she didn't love Clarke. How could she, when she barely knew the girl? Besides, she had been in love before, and this felt very different. But she couldn't deny that there was something more than obligation and pure animal lust that drew her to the _Skayon_. Not that she'd ever admit to Anya, of course, but something within her seemed bound to something within Clarke, and had even before their mating. She couldn't say exactly what that something was, and all of her attempts to characterize it had drawn her dangerously close to the territory her former mentor had been teasing her mercilessly about, but to deny it would be to lie.

Lexa let out a deep sigh, slumping a little on her horse. Anya’s teasing held a grain of truth—she had slept terribly apart from Clarke, and she was bone-weary. Perhaps seeing her mate again would help her answer the riddle of what drew Lexa to her so powerfully and perhaps it wouldn't, but in any event she would at least get a decent night’s rest. _If she wants to sleep with you at all. If she wants anything to do with you. Who knows? Maybe she's changed her mind about everything and doesn't want to be with you_ —

 _Shof op, branwada!_ Lexa told her traitorous brain, but it was too late. Doubt had taken root in her mind.

She was so busy with her anxious moping that she nearly missed the first _Skaikru_ sentry posted within the trees. She marked him, let him think that she hadn't seen him, and then watched as he turned and darted off into the forest in the direction of the _Skaikru_ encampment. Once she was sure he was out of earshot, she let out a low whistle and held up her hand in a fist, before raising one finger. An answering whistle from behind let her know that her signal had been understood, and that the rest of her party were on the alert. While they were theoretically coming to the _Skaikru_ as allies, it was best to be prudent. Besides, who knew what might have happened in a day and a half? The Sky People might have been outraged that one of their own would mate with someone from _Trikru_ , and could have decided to depose Clarke…or worse.

Lexa’s horse felt her tension through her seat and whickered nervously. She stroked his neck a couple of times to quiet him, but she still couldn't quite relax. Her mind refused to stop running scenarios, each more awful than the next.

As though she could hear Lexa’s increasingly agitated thoughts, Anya drew her horse even with Lexa’s again, near enough to place a calming hand on the Commander’s tense shoulder. _“Chil yu au, Heda_ ,” her former mentor murmured quietly. “You have prepared for this. You are ready for whatever may come.” Lexa gave Anya a small smile, but she couldn't quite agree. The territory they were preparing to enter was at once terrifyingly familiar, and entirely unknown. Anya’s scouts had canvassed every inch of the place, and she had selected the warriors in the band herself—all betas save Anya, whom Lexa knew she could trust not to let herself be antagonized by any of the _Skaikru_ alphas. Lexa had prepared for every variable she could imagine…and yet there was Clarke in the center of things. And what unnerved her the most was the thought that perhaps Clarke could not ever truly be prepared for.

* * *

Clarke stared down at the paper in her hand with intense concentration, dusting the edge of the charcoal along the narrow outline of a cheek. The face emblazoned at the front of her mind was starting to take shape on paper more quickly than she had expected. Even without a reference, her memories of her new mate were more than clear. She could recall the proud angle of Lexa's jaw in an instant, the beautiful shape of Lexa's lips and the small freckle near the top of their bow, the open, expressive set of Lexa's eyes. It almost made her wish she had risked breaking into the pastels she and Finn had brought back from the bunker the first time. Lexa's irises were such a captivating shade of green…

 _Oh God. The way she looked at me. The way she stared..._ Although the expression she had chosen for her drawing was tender, she couldn’t help remembering other moments, when Lexa’s eyes had flashed with desire and the alpha’s gaze had practically set her aflame. Sticky heat made its presence known between Clarke’s legs, and she swallowed thickly to loosen her throat.

"Clarke?"

Even though she had been expecting an interruption, Clarke still jerked in surprise at the sound of her name, nearly smearing her work. Whoever it was hadn't entered her corner of the dropship yet, but she didn't want to take any chances. "Hold on," she called back, setting the drawing aside where she hoped it wouldn't be noticed. Despite the mating mark on her neck and the hollow ache in her lower belly, she wasn't ready to admit to anyone else just how much Lexa had consumed her thoughts for the past few days.

With one last glance at the sketch, she stood, brushing her hand on the side of her pants and heading toward the entrance. A familiar face was waiting for her, and she had to stifle a sigh. "Hey, Finn. What's up?"

To her relief, Finn didn't seem to be visiting her for personal reasons. His expression was serious, and so was his voice when he spoke. "Some of our scouts just got back. The Grounders are coming—the Commander and her guards, right on schedule. It looks like the number she told us."

Clarke nodded and followed him out of the dropship. She had been almost positive that Lexa wouldn't go back on their agreement, but it was still a relief to hear. "How soon will they get here?" she asked, not quite able to suppress the eagerness in her voice.

A flicker of sadness crossed Finn's face, but he did a fair job of hiding it a moment later. "They aren't far out. Maybe ten minutes?"

 _Ten minutes?_ Clarke's heart leapt in her chest. It was embarrassing to admit how much she had missed Lexa's company—even only to herself—and the thought of seeing the alpha again left her feeling strangely giddy. _Focus, Griffin,_ she said, fighting against a smile. _You can deal with your dumb crush later. Your job is to make sure nothing goes wrong during this meeting._ But even though she knew it was important, she couldn't shake her sudden happiness. Eventually, she stopped trying. She allowed herself to smile, ignoring Finn's crestfallen look.

"Finn, I need you to go get Raven and Octavia," she said. "So far, they're the ones who’ve had the most contact with the Grounders..."

"Besides you," Finn added.

"Yes, besides me," she agreed, a little grudgingly. "I'm going to find Bellamy."

To her surprise, Finn nodded in agreement. "Good idea. He'll probably need some adult supervision."

Clarke snorted, but didn't respond. Although Bellamy had been somewhat well-behaved over the past few days, mostly thanks to his sister's influence, she was fairly certain that having another dominant alpha in his camp would bring out all his worst qualities. He wasn't the most patient or reasonable leader to begin with, and the power of Lexa's scent was sure to aggravate him. "I want you there, too," she added, before Finn could turn away from her. "I know things have been... a little rocky..." He gave her a look, and she sighed. "Fine. A lot rocky." _Although that was mostly your fault for 'forgetting' to tell me you had a girlfriend._ "But this truce was your idea. You convinced Octavia to set it up. You deserve to see it happen, and it'll be nice to have someone on my side if Bellamy starts acting up."

"You've got more people on your side than you think," Finn said. "Raven and Octavia really went to bat for you the other day, and a lot of us respect them. Even if someone like Jasper starts complaining, or Bellamy decides throw a temper tantrum and change his mind, you'll have us. We trust you."

“Thanks,” Clarke said, darting a quick glance at him. He certainly looked sincere, and while she didn’t fully trust his motives, she couldn’t deny that his offer of support was welcome. He gave her a dull smile before returning his gaze to his boots.

When they reached the bottom of the ramp, Clarke and Finn parted ways. Bellamy was where she’d expected him to be, skulking near the barricade with his rifle clutched tight to his chest. “Everything set?” she said, an edge of warning in her tone. He gave her a sharp look, but simply nodded.

“I pulled Jax, Asmo, and Orson off of guard duty, because they’ve been pretty rowdy lately and they might cause trouble. I replaced them with Butler, Guin, and Craig.”

Clarke nodded, considering his choices. The three that Bellamy had swapped out were all alphas, and they made damn sure that everybody knew it—definitely not the kind of people they wanted on the walls with guns when Lexa’s warriors arrived. Butler, Guin, and Craig all had the cool heads and affability that were stereotypical of betas. “That’s good, but what about Jasper and Harkness? They’re not supposed to be on guard but they still might try to start something.”

“Way ahead of you, princess,” Bellamy said. Clarke tried not to bristle at the nickname. “I sent them to the river to fish. They won’t be back before lunch, and we should have the Grounders settled in by then.”

“I bet they loved that,” Clarke said dryly, and Bellamy snorted.

“They took it about as well as you’d expect.”

They stood in companionable silence for a moment, Clarke entertaining herself with imagining Jasper’s reaction to Bellamy’s orders. The alpha’s next words were a surprise.

“I’ve been thinking about it, and I have to say that what you did was pretty incredible.”

Clarke just stared at him, jaw hanging open. When she didn’t respond, Bellamy turned to look at her. She snapped her mouth shut, but he’d already seen, and was grinning at her.

“Shut up.”

“Hey, I didn’t say anything. I gave you a compliment, in fact,” he said with a smirk. Clarke rolled her eyes.

“I didn’t think you were capable of that.”

Bellamy shrugged. “Yeah, well, sometimes people surprise you. Like you, for example. I mean, I thought you were just kind of…floating off in space, with what happened in the bunker, but you came out of there with a ceasefire.”

Clarke narrowed her eyes at him. Where had this sudden burst of insight come from? Bellamy was a lot of things, but empathetic wasn’t usually one of them.

“I talked to Octavia about it last night,” he said, answering her unspoken question. “She kind of…knocked some sense into me.” He gave her a rueful grin, gingerly touching the side of his head. “Literally.”

Clarke nodded, giving him a small smile in return. “Remind me to thank her.”

Bellamy rolled his eyes, but a moment later he was fidgeting uncomfortably, flicking the safety of his gun on and off. Finally, he sighed, “It can’t have been easy, winding up mated to her. I mean, you barely even know her.”

“Yeah,” Clarke said, but without conviction. Bellamy had unknowingly touched on a point that had been troubling her ever since she’d returned to the dropship. The guilty truth was that while her bonding to Lexa was still something she was struggling to accept, it was a lot easier than it should have been. She should be horrified at herself and what she’d done while in the middle of her heat; matings like this weren’t unheard of, but she was supposed to be better than this. She had lost the control she so prided herself on and acted like the stereotype of an omega that she’d spent her life trying to subvert. And yet when she searched for the shame and guilt she should be feeling…well, it was there, but not nearly as strong as it ought to be. And it was soon subsumed by her excitement at the prospect of seeing Lexa again.

Bellamy sniffed quietly, and she turned to see him regarding her carefully. She knew he was trying to get a sense of what she was feeling from her scent, but just right now she didn’t feel like sharing. She bumped her shoulder against his and said, “Thanks, Bellamy. I should probably get down there. They’ll be here soon.” To her relief, he didn’t press her, only nodded and resumed scanning the treeline.

Stepping down off the wall, Clarke made her way to the center of their campground. Finn had found Octavia and Raven—the latter carefully ignoring him, and the former looking smug about something. _Probably smacking some sense into her brother._ “All set?” she said, taking her place in the center of the small group.

Raven nodded. “As ready as we’re gonna be.”

Clarke turned back to regard the gate, but a hand on her shoulder stopped her: Finn. Soft desperation shone in his eyes, making her stomach drop. “Clarke, listen. I just want you to know that whatever happens, I—”

But she was spared the aggravation of having to deal with him by the shout that came up from one of the sentries on the wall: “They’re here! Guys, the Grounders are here!”

“Open the gate,” Bellamy shouted. Clarke shook off Finn’s hand as subtly as she could, but she was already forgetting his awkwardness. The excitement pooling in her gut only grew as the rickety gates began to open with a groan and squeal of protesting scrapmetal.

At last, they parted to reveal several fierce-looking warriors on horseback. When Clarke's eyes lit on the figure at the front of the group, her heart gave a happy lurch in her chest. _Lexa._ She could already smell the alpha's familiar scent, and a smile stretched across her face—at least, until she saw Bellamy, Finn, and the others staring at her. She hurried to school her expression, straightening her shoulders and trying to look as dignified as possible. Her authority was already on shaky ground, and she didn’t want anyone to doubt her.

After a brief scan of the dropship, Lexa dismounted from her horse in one smooth motion, handing the reins off to one of her people. She stiffened, smelling the air, and then to Clarke's amazement, a smile spread across her face. Their eyes met from several yards away, and the two of them shared a long look...

"Looks like the Commander's got a bad case of heart-eyes too," Raven muttered in Clarke's ear, distracting her from the moment. "You ready for this, Griffin? We're not gonna have to listen to the two of you fuck for three more days in the dropship before we hammer out this alliance, right?"

Clarke aimed a scowl in Raven's direction. "Of course not. My heat's over, and besides, this agreement is literally life and death for us. Lexa knows how important this is." She stole another glance at the Commander, who was currently in the middle of a whisper-discussion with Anya, the grounder she had met back at the bunker. Lexa's smile had vanished, but Anya was wearing one instead, and Clarke strongly suspected that she wasn't the only one being chastised for looking too long.

"All right," Bellamy said. He didn't reach for the gun at his hip, but he did square his shoulders, staring down the Grounder betas Lexa had brought with her. "Let's do this. But one wrong move, and..."

Clarke gave him a slight shake of her head and stepped forward, approaching Lexa and her warriors. When they saw her coming, they moved aside, lowering their weapons and allowing her through. Lexa turned to greet her, and for a moment, Clarke thought she saw a look of softness pass over the alpha's face. Then Lexa seemed to get ahold of herself, and she tilted her chin up, assuming a dominant posture. " _Klark._ "

"Lexa."

Both of them remained silent for several awkward seconds. Part of Clarke was desperate to pull Lexa into an embrace after the torturous days apart, but she had no idea what would happen if she did, or if Lexa would even accept the affectionate gesture. Even though they were technically mates, they still hardly knew each other, and her heat was over. This was business, and they had no reason to touch.

After a moment, Lexa cleared her throat, gazing past her toward the dropship. "Your camp is interesting. That vessel in the middle... we have seen things like it before, most of them old and destroyed. Some of our cities are built around such ruins."

"It's not exactly a ruin," Clarke said. "That's what we came down on."

"Yes, from the sky. I am very curious to know how your people survived that way."

"Not easily. We had to develop ways to live without much air, water, or food. Some of our knowledge will be able to help your people."

Lexa nodded. "And the rest of your Clan... when will they arrive?"

Clarke shrugged. "They're still working out how to get down, but we have contact with them through the video terminal."

"The what?" Lexa's brow furrowed in confusion. "Is that some kind of messenger?"

"Kind of," Clarke said, "only it happens in real time. We can see each other's faces and talk from a long distance away."

Lexa's eyes widened in surprise. "That _tek_ sounds incredibly useful. Is it rare, or commonplace?"

"It’s fairly common. Once my people come down, we can set you up with all kinds of methods for instant communication. Until then, we can use the terminal we have to talk to Chancellor Jaha on the Ark. He's kind of our Commander."

"Jaha," Lexa said, feeling out the name. "If he is your leader, I must speak with him after the two of us come to terms. I will not form an alliance only to see it break as soon as the rest of your people arrive."

"That's the plan," Clarke said. "Come on. We’ve got a place cleared where you can pitch your tents.”

Lexa gave her a slightly startled look that ended in sheepishness, and Clarke felt her face heat up at the implication. _Just my luck. I guess that euphemism survived here on the ground too._

After another awkward moment of trying and failing not to stare at each other, Lexa gestured for Clarke to lead on. She did so, gaze fixed firmly on the stretch of wall that they’d cleared of junk and assorted debris for the Grounders to camp. She was aware of dozens of eyes on her, and the low mutters and whispers from the Delinquents who watched their former enemies being led right into their midst. But even more than that, she was aware of Lexa’s presence just behind her—Lexa’s scent, Lexa’s breathing, even the heat that she imagined she could feel radiating from the alpha’s body. It made her shiver with memories of the warm, soft skin under all of that armor against her own, and her fingers twitched with the effort of not reaching back for Lexa’s hand.

 _Wait, why do I want to hold her hand? Is it just because I want to touch her, or…_ _maybe it’s because I missed her?_

When they arrived, Clarke turned, pointing toward the area near the north wall. “Do you think that’ll be enough space?”

Lexa nodded. “That should be adequate, thank you.” Her face and voice had become businesslike once again, and Clarke’s shoulders drooped a little with disappointment. _How can she be so calm? Is it weird that I’m dying to touch her?_ Even just the skin of her wrist or her arm, if only for a moment… But here they were, acting like the dignitaries they were supposed to be. She doubted anyone watching would have been able to tell that only days ago, they’d been fucking like animals in an underground bunker, teeth in each other’s necks.

While Clarke tried to regain some control, Lexa turned and began barking orders to her warriors in rapid Trigedasleng. The betas immediately began unpacking bags and tents from their horses, hustling over to the area that she indicated. Only Anya remained, observing them with a small smirk on her face, as though she knew a secret. Clarke narrowed her eyes at the other alpha, but didn’t say anything. She’d ask Lexa what her deal was later.

Apparently satisfied with her warriors’ preparations, Lexa turned back to Clarke. “Perhaps while my _gonakru_ finish setting up camp and seeing to our horses, we can begin negotiations. Is there someplace you’d like to conduct them?” Her eyes flicked meaningfully around the courtyard, silently indicating their audience, most of whom regarded them with a mixture of suspicion and curiosity, but some verged on outright hostility.

Clarke nodded. “This way. We thought we’d use the upper floor of the dropship.”

Clarke led Lexa up the ramp, trying unsuccessfully to ignore the pull of the alpha’s presence behind her. When she turned to hold back the curtains draped across its opening so they didn’t smack the Commander in the face, she noticed that Anya had not followed them—she was still standing in the yard, talking with Raven. The omnipresent smirk still remained on her face, but it had softened somewhat. _Well, isn’t_ that _interesting,_ Clarke thought, the sight making an answering smirk grow on her lips. _Looks like I was right about Raven being next on Team Grounder Pounder._

“Clarke?”

Lexa was blinking rapidly in the dimness of the dropship, attempting to focus on her. For a moment Clarke was bemused at the sight of the Grounder alpha, dressed in armor and her crimson sash, a sword at her side and warpaint streaked across her face, standing in the middle of a piece of the Ark that had fallen from space. All of the world around them was Lexa’s; she was at home in the forest, swam as easily as an otter through the river, and probably knew every deer track for miles around. But Lexa was in _her_ world now, at least a little bit of it, and she looked as out of place as…well, Clarke didn’t know. She couldn’t ever have imagined someone like Lexa up on the Ark.

Somebody bumped into her shoulder hard, and Clarke whirled to see Raven pushing past her into the dropship. “You’re staring, Griffin,” she muttered as she passed, her smirk nearly identical to the one that Anya was wearing. Clarke’s only answer was a low growl, but to her surprise it was joined by another—Lexa’s. Anya had said something to her in a teasing tone, and Clarke guessed it was largely the same thing.

“If the two of you are done making eyes at each other, I believe we have a treaty to discuss,” the other alpha said, humor clear in her voice. Lexa’s growl got louder, and the hairs rose on the back of Clarke’s neck. That sound did things to her, abruptly reminding her that she hadn’t had sex with Lexa in three days, and how had she survived, exactly? A moment later, however, she shook her head, remembering herself. _Focus. The sooner we get this treaty thing tied down, the sooner you can…_

Actually, she wasn’t certain what would happen after the meeting. She supposed Lexa would want to speak to Jaha when he was available, but that wouldn’t take all day. It was likely that she and Lexa would find themselves alone at some point, and when she did, she wasn’t sure how her new mate would behave. Some moments, it seemed as if Lexa was gazing at her with desire, and perhaps even fondness—but then a split second later, the Commander was back, giving orders and taking up much larger amounts of space than her slender body seemed capable of filling.

Biting back a groan of confused frustration, she followed Lexa, Raven, and Anya further into the dropship. When they arrived at the ladder leading to the second floor, Lexa’s eyes found hers, and they both spoke at the same time.

“Go ahead—”

"I'll let you..."

Lexa flushed slightly, and Clarke cleared her throat.

"You first," she said, gesturing at the ladder. "I'll go up behind you."

"Christ _,_ I'll go first," Raven huffed, pushing them both aside and setting her foot on the first rung. "If we wait for you two, we'll never make it up." She clambered up to the second floor, and Anya followed, disappearing through the hatch. A moment later, her head peeked back down.

" _Em klir,_ _Heda. Kom yu op._ "

Lexa nodded and took Anya's place on the ladder, while Clarke tried and failed not to watch. Unfortunately, choosing to follow Lexa up had put her face level with the Commander's firm backside, and her pants were tight enough to show off every curve. Remembering the way she had gripped those same muscles in her hands as Lexa surged on top of her sent a shiver of want down the column of Clarke's spine, as well as a pulse between her legs. It wasn't until the tempting view began to rise out of reach that she actually snapped out of her trance and remembered to start climbing.

 _Get ahold of yourself, Griffin. You can figure out what to do about this... situation... later._ But even though she wasn't sure what might happen, Clarke was certain of one thing: when she and Lexa finally got some privacy, things were either going to be very intense, or very awkward.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Trigedasleng:**
> 
> _Gouthru klir:_ safe passage  
>  _Mela op, blinka au:_ Head up, eyes open  
>  _Shof op. En ste set yu op:_ Be quiet. Everyone will hear you.  
>  _Ai na lufa au:_ I will be the lookout.  
>  _Gonakru:_ warband, warriors  
>  _Em klir, Heda. Kom yu op:_ All clear, Commander. Come.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The filth returns! But first, Anya meets Raven's exes. And that's just as awkward as you think it's gonna be. As per usual, let us know what you think in the comments and on tumblr @n1ghtwr1ter and @raedmagdon.
> 
> [](http://s558.photobucket.com/user/calfaolan/media/green78%20-%20twon%20cover_zpskkb485uj.jpg.html)  
> 

"You can't just put a blockade around us," Bellamy growled. He was crouched forward on the crate he was using as a chair, making the muscles in his shoulders and neck stand out in order to look bigger and more intimidating. "There are barely any animals out there to hunt as it is, and our rations are getting low. How the hell are we supposed to eat if you won't let us go into the woods to find food?"

Raven rolled her eyes at the display. Her nose wasn’t overly sensitive, but with three alphas in the room, even she wasn’t immune to the stink. But where it seemed to be making Clarke and Octavia uncomfortable, if the way they were shifting in their own seats was any indication, it just gave her a headache. To her mild approval, however, the Grounder Commander appeared to have at least a little self-control.

“It is not my intention to keep you prisoner,” she said evenly, keeping still in her own seat and returning his near-glare with an unwavering stare of her own. What impressed Raven even more was that Lexa seemed to have mastered a trick that precious few alphas her age even realized they needed: standing her ground without offering challenge. "I am suggesting that you restrict your movements to this area of the forest for the time being. You have been fortunate so far, dealing only with  _ Trikru _ and my warriors, but there are other Clans who may perceive your people as a threat. It is best for everyone if you remain at your dropship while I prepare my Coalition to receive you.”

Bellamy’s scowl deepened and he opened his mouth to object, but Raven spoke up before he had the chance. "How long are these 'preparations' going to take? We don't know when everyone else is going to make it down here, and if we can't hunt, we're screwed. We don't have enough supplies to last us, especially when winter comes."

Lexa’s gaze shifted over to Clarke, who was seated directly across from her, and the two of them shared a look. Raven fought the urge to roll her eyes, but to her surprise the impulse came with another, far less welcome one. The way that they seemed attuned to one another’s body language, able to read one another’s thoughts and feelings with little more than a single glance, was something that annoyed her and made her wistful in equal measure. It was something she’d once had, or thought she had, with Finn.  _ And look how wrong I was about  _ that, she thought, glancing over to where the beta boy leaned against one of the dropship’s columns. He didn’t meet her eyes—he was too busy gazing mournfully at the back of Clarke’s head.

"Lexa's people will make sure we have enough supplies,” Clarke said, ignoring his stare. “That’s the deal: we share our technology, they share their food and resources and show us how to survive down here."

“I think we’ve been doing pretty well ourselves,” Bellamy said through clenched teeth. “And we’d  _ stay  _ that way if your people would let us—”

A slight tick of the muscles in her jaw was the only thing that gave away the Commander’s annoyance. “This  _ protective cordon  _ would be to ensure that you continue surviving as you have.”

“That’s not the point—”

Raven huffed. In the mood that he was in, she knew that Bellamy was liable to start fighting the Commander on everything and anything, no matter how reasonable it sounded. She glanced at Anya, expecting to see a similar expression on the Grounder alpha’s face. For all that she’d only known the woman for a few days, she seemed a kindred spirit of sorts, something that Raven definitely hadn’t expected to find on the ground.  _ And it doesn’t hurt that she’s easy on the eyes… _

But to her surprise, the normally laid-back alpha was hunched over in her seat, fists clenched on her knees. As Raven watched, a bead of sweat trickled down her temple and ran along her jawline, before dropping into the hollow of her collarbones and continuing down… Blinking to snap herself back into focus, she leaned towards Anya and said in a low voice, “You doing okay?”

The Grounder gave her a wan smile. “I am fine, except… I believe that the word in  _ gonasleng _ is  _ claustrophobic.” _

Raven’s eyebrows rose, but when she thought about it for a moment, it made sense. From what Anya had revealed about her life on the ground, serving as the Commander’s field marshal and spymaster and any number of other outdoorsy things, there were few nights that the alpha didn’t sleep under the stars, or at least a lot closer to them than they were now. The beta’s eyes flickered around the dropship, realizing that what she saw as circuits, engines, and the structure that held it all together probably seemed to Anya like a closed-in metal cage.

“Hey guys,” she said over the low rumble of the alphas’ posturing, “I missed breakfast and I’m getting kind of hungry. Plus I left Monty minding the shop, and I should probably go make sure that he hasn’t blown anything up yet. What do you say we take fifteen?”

Both Bellamy and Lexa’s heads snapped up, looking like they wanted to argue, but Clarke spoke first, relief plain in her voice. “That’s a great idea, Raven,” she said, standing. “Lexa, we should probably go see that your warriors are settled in.” It was a pretty transparent excuse to get some alone time with the Commander, and Raven made sure that Clarke caught her knowing smirk, but at this point all she really cared about was getting out of the stuffiness and alpha stink in the dropship’s tight quarters.  _ Weird how I never really noticed it before I met Anya… _

She allowed the others to climb down the ladder first, snorting when she noticed Clarke rushing to go before Lexa. If she didn't miss her guess, her friend was hoping the Commander would climb down after her and offer an enjoyable view on the way. But she didn't have long to laugh at Clarke's not-so-subtle attempts at checking out Lexa's ass. Anya still looked green around the gills, and after a momentary pause to make sure the contact was welcome, she placed a hand on the alpha's shoulder.

"You ready to get out of here, Anya? You look like you could use some fresh air."

Anya gave her a look that Raven assumed was supposed to be intimidating. "You should not have put a halt to the negotiations because of my discomfort,  _ Reivon _ . This alliance is more important than you know. Lexa's position as Heda may very well hinge on its success. If it falls apart and her decisions were shown to be in error..."

"I didn't do it for you," Raven interrupted, unwilling to let Anya work herself up any further. "Bellamy and Lexa were being stupid. Well, mostly Bellamy. I thought they could use a few minutes to cool off."

Anya's suspicious glare lasted a few more moments, but eventually, she seemed to accept the explanation. "I appreciate it anyway. Yes, let's go outside."

Raven went down the ladder first, keeping a careful eye on Anya as she descended to make sure there weren't any mishaps. Fortunately, they both made it to the ground floor without incident. As soon as she stepped out into the open, Raven took in a deep, cleansing breath of air. "Oh, thank God. It was starting to stink in there."

"You should attend a meeting of Lexa's Coalition," Anya drawled. She looked a little steadier already, and Raven smiled at the return of her sarcasm. "They smell even worse."

"I'll pass on that." Raven glanced around the camp, partially so she wouldn't keep staring awkwardly at her companion. "What do you wanna do? Grab something to eat? We've got nuts and... nuts. And I guess there might be some really old deer no one else wanted."

"We brought our own provisions," Anya said. "But I do have a question. Where is this 'workshop' you were speaking of?"

Raven brightened. She wasn't sure why Anya's apparent interest in her job made her feel happy, but it most definitely caused an unusual lightness in her chest. "Oh, it's not much... not compared to what I had back on the Ark. But it does have some pretty cool tech, if you want to check it out?" She leaned in, smirking from ear to ear and gazing at Anya with hooded eyes. "I bet I can show you stuff that'll  _ blow your mind. _ "

Anya let out a short laugh. "Perhaps you can. Where is it?"

Raven nodded right, toward one of the tents attached to the dropship. "Right over here. And this time, no walls, I promise."

She didn't miss Anya's small sigh of relief, or the look of gratitude that crossed over the alpha's face. "Lead the way."

Freshly encouraged, Raven led Anya over to the tent she had claimed for her own, peeling back the flap with a flourish and allowing her to enter first. _"Voila._ _La casa de_ Raven _._ Try not to touch anything unless I say it's okay. Some of it might actually explode..."

Anya's eyebrows raised, but she seemed to take it as a joke, because she didn't seem particularly frightened as she stepped inside the tent. However, a look of surprise crossed her face when she saw some of the objects in it. "So," she said, scanning one of the tabletops that was covered in leftover bullet casings, "this is where you make the ammunition for your  _ fayagon _ ."

Raven shrugged. "Make, re-use... Hopefully Bellamy will get his head on straight again and we won't need all the bullets I stockpiled. He can be a bit of an ass..." At Anya's skeptical look, she rolled her eyes. "Okay, a  _ big _ ass. But his heart's in the right place. He just wants to protect all of us. Clarke knows how to handle him."

"Even now that she's mated?" Anya asked.

"He actually admitted that was a good idea earlier today," Raven said. "But to be honest? Lexa doesn't need to worry about him—in terms of the negotiations, or otherwise. I fucked him once, and it was okay at best. Not anything to radio home about."

Raven began fumbling through her most recent projects, trying to decide which one would be the most impressive to show the Grounder. She was almost startled into dropping a half-finished invention by a snarl so powerful that it nearly seemed to rattle the walls of the tent. Her head jerked up and she turned to stare at Anya, who looked almost as startled as she did. When Raven’s eyes met the alpha’s, Anya immediately looked away.

“I…apologize. I’m not sure why I did that.”

“Uh…it’s fine, I guess?” Raven said slowly, frowning at her suddenly bashful behavior. “Just, um, warn me if you’re gonna do it again?”

She returned to looking through the collection of junk that she was gradually turning into stuff they could actually use. She had finally narrowed it down to an almost-working drone and a remote-controlled string of cherry bombs when there was a knock on the main post of the tent. “Hey, Raven, do you think you can take a look at this radio? Scott said it was on the fritz earlier – oh.”

Bellamy had ducked into the tent and come face to face with Anya. Although he was taller than the Grounder alpha, she was giving him a look that seemed to be making him shrink.  _ Not enough,  _ Raven thought sourly, crossing her arms over her chest.  _ This tent is  _ way  _ too small to hold this many alphas. It’s starting to stink in here again. _

“Any chance it can wait?” she said pointedly, tapping her boot on the ground. “I figured we were only taking a short break, and given what I know of Scott it’s probably gonna take me a day or more.”

Bellamy rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah…about that. I think we might be taking a longer break than we planned.”

Raven frowned at him. “Why?”

“Well…it’s…um.” He was looking at the ground, the roof of the tent, the junk on her workbench – desperately anywhere except for her.

Raven rolled her eyes. “Spit it out, Bell, we don’t have all day.”

“Well, the…Commander…and Clarke…they, uh…”

Raven struggled against the urge to start smacking him until he made sense. It was usually what worked – or at least the fastest way to get what she needed out of him – but she figured it would probably be better that their Grounder guests didn’t know that.

“Hey guys, have you seen the Grounders? Are we ready to go back in there – oh, hey.”

_ And now my day is complete,  _ Raven thought, biting back a loud sigh as Finn ducked into the tent and nearly ran his face right into Bellamy. All of a sudden the smell of alpha seemed to get stronger, though she couldn’t work out whether it was coming from Anya or Bellamy. All of a sudden, she decided that she didn’t want to know.  _ Thank you god for making me a beta. _

“Bellamy was just telling us where they are, and why we’re going to have to postpone the negotiations for a bit,” the mechanic said pointedly, fixing Bellamy with A Look. To her surprise and amusement, he actually looked a little green.

“They’re, um…inspecting the tents?”

“So you mean they’re sucking face,” Raven deadpanned, wanting to torture him a little, but Anya let out a huff and pushed both him and Finn aside.

“I’ll get them.”

Bellamy let out a halfhearted growl, but the other alpha was already out of the tent, heading across the compound to the Grounders’ camp. Her long strides ate up the ground so fast that Raven was forced to jog to catch up with her, though she didn’t try too hard—the way she moved gave her an optimum opportunity to admire— _ Focus, Reyes! _

As they approached the row of Grounder tents, Raven noticed a conspicuous absence of other Grounders, which struck her as odd. She was about to say something about it to Anya, but the alpha started barking something in her own language. Raven had no idea what it meant, although she did catch a few of the swears she’d managed to convince Anya to teach her during their impromptu camping trip, but she guessed it amounted to something like  _ Come on, fuckers, time to get back to work! _

When her demands weren’t answered, Anya let out another growl—a lot quieter this time, but still enough to make the hairs on the back of Raven’s neck stand up—and stalked towards the largest tent.  _ Probably the Commander’s. Heh. I bet Griffin’s inspecting  _ something,  _ but I doubt it’s the tents. _

Anya threw aside the tent flap, loudly saying something else in Trigedasleng that Raven guessed was rude by her tone. Raven followed her in, preparing to make a comment about how they really needed to learn to keep it in their pants. By the time she realized just how right she was, it was too late. 

“Hey morons, you’d better be done making out in there, because it’s time to get back to the - holy shit!”

* * *

"So, these are your quarters?"

Clarke nodded, studying Lexa closely as the Commander gazed around the small corner of the dropship she had claimed as her own. Her hands were folded behind her back in a stiff, military pose, and her chin was lifted higher than necessary, but the stance wasn't entirely convincing. More than once, she caught Lexa's eyes lingering on her instead of the pallet and collection of crates.

"It's not much, but it's home for now," Clarke said. She nodded her head toward the terminal against the wall. "This is where you'll be able to talk to Jaha once we finish our negotiations. The connection's a little spotty, but it doesn't usually take too long to contact him and my Mom—"

Lexa had been staring at the terminal with a considerable amount of interest, but at the word 'mom', her eyes widened in mild surprise. "Your mother? Do you have family living in this floating city of yours?"

_ Damn it, Clarke. Could you have chosen a worse subject to talk to her about?  _ Grudgingly, she nodded. Lexa was her mate, after all—she was going to find out sooner or later. "My father's dead. My mom and I... aren't on the greatest of terms right now because of it. No littermates, so I'm basically on my own."

Lexa gave her a small nod, and a look almost like sympathy crossed Lexa's face. "To take up the mantle of leadership is often lonely, Clarke. I understand. I have no parents either, and the ones I called siblings are gone as well."

"What about Anya?" Clarke asked. She took a seat on one of the crates, resting her hands in her lap and nodding for Lexa to join her. "You seem pretty friendly with her. Is she kind of like family to you?"

"She was my  _ Fos. _ Before I became Heda, she trained me as a warrior." Lexa approached the crate beside her, but hesitated before sitting, brow crinkling in confusion. She reached down, picking up a loose piece of paper, and Clarke gasped when she realized what it was.

"It's not finished," she blurted out, her face burning. In her eagerness to see Lexa, she had completely forgotten about her drawing. She reached out to take it back, but it was far too late. Lexa was already studying it with intense interest.

"You made this?" she asked, an almost giddy smile spreading across her face. It made her look completely unlike the stoic Commander who had sat in on the negotiations, much softer and much younger, and Clarke felt her heart lurch in her chest.

"I, uh... I haven't had a lot to do the past couple of days waiting for you to get here," she mumbled, running her hand back through her hair. "Lots of free time."

Lexa lowered the paper, still grinning. She almost looked as if she was about to begin teasing, but when their eyes met, both of them remained silent instead. They stared at each other for a long moment, both unable to look away, until Clarke finally cleared her throat and stood up to break the tension. "Do you want lunch? We should go get lunch. I could get you some—"

"Clarke..." Lexa reached out, touching her hand, and Clarke had to stifle a gasp. "It is a good likeness. May I keep this?"

Clarke blinked for several moments before she found her voice. She started to say no, but the hopeful look on Lexa's face overwhelmed her embarrassment. "I guess?" she mumbled, folding her arms across her chest. "It's not done yet..."

"It looks perfect to me," Lexa said, no longer looking at the drawing at all. She stood, holding the drawing carefully so she wouldn't smudge the charcoal. "Let me go put this in my tent."

"I'll come with you," Clarke said. Being around Lexa was painfully awkward, but she didn't want to leave the alpha's side. Just the thought made her chest ache in a curious way. "You can give me the tour."

"Of my tent?" It was Lexa's turn to look awkward and avert her eyes. "I'm afraid it isn't very interesting. Just some supplies, my armor, and a sleeping pallet..."

Clarke's face flushed. She hadn't meant to imply anything sordid, but she wasn't sure how to take it back. She wasn't even sure if she wanted to.  _ Would it be so bad if I did mate with her again? _ she wondered as she stepped past Lexa and pulled back the curtain.  _ My heat's over, but we are technically mates. Maybe it would be good to get this stupid tension out of the way? _ But she had no idea whether Lexa would be receptive. The alpha had certainly been admiring her over the past several hours, but they were supposed to be conducting business. It wasn't an appropriate time to resume their physical connection.

“Well, I just…I figured you’d want to make sure your warriors are doing all right, and I guess I’m a little curious about how the other half lives,” she said, with an awkward little laugh that did exactly nothing to defuse the strained feeling in the air.

Lexa still looked a little dubious, but nodded anyway, turning to leave Clarke’s sleeping area. She lifted the curtain that separated it from the rest of the dropship and looked poised to step through, but a moment later seemed to think better of it and paused, holding the fabric up with an expectant look. Clarke just blinked at her for a second, not understanding, but when Lexa gestured for her to pass through, she blushed. “Oh! Sorry…uh, thanks.”

Ducking under the curtain as quickly as she could, she scooted to the entrance of the dropship and waited for Lexa to follow, blinking rapidly in the sudden sunlight. As they made their way across the compound towards where the Grounders had set up their encampment, Clarke could feel the prickle of dozens of eyes on her, but she kept her gaze focused directly on the tent she could see in the center. It was the largest and most colorful, and she figured it must be Lexa’s.

As they approached, several of the beta warriors that Lexa had brought with her called greetings to her in Trigedasleng. Clarke noticed them watching her too, although none of them tried to approach her, which was just as well. Their looks didn’t have the same hostility as the stares of the Arkers, but they made her blush just the same.

Upon nearing the large tent, Clarke paused, figuring that she should probably at least make sure that it was the Commander’s so she didn’t just barge into some complete stranger’s dwelling. One of the Grounder warriors shouted something to his Commander, and from the grin on his face and the redness slowly spreading across the alpha’s cheeks, Clarke guessed it wasn’t a greeting. Whatever the warrior had said made Lexa miss the fact that the omega had paused. Her front hit Clarke’s back with a very solid thump, and both of them froze.

Clarke was acutely aware that they were closer together than they had been since the bunker, a realization which occasioned a flood of conflicting feelings. Relief—her alpha was touching her at last—and then guilt about that relief:  _ Jesus, Griffin, what is this? Get your head on straight and stop being such an omega!  _ She felt Lexa draw in a shuddering breath, and all of a sudden her other emotions were drowned out by a wave of lust at what she could feel, hard and heavy and oh god,  _ throbbing,  _ pressing into her backside.

Before she could stop herself, she ground back against the firm shape of Lexa’s cock, making the alpha let out a hiss. Her hands shot out to grab Clarke’s hips—whether to stop her from repeating the motion, or to keep her where she was, Clarke couldn’t quite tell. And she didn’t really care. The possessive gesture made all of the blood in her body rush south. Dimly, she heard one of the Grounders say something else in a clearly mocking tone, and Lexa’s low growl rumbled against her back, making her shiver. Although she was more turned on than she could ever remember being outside of her heat, Clarke realized that they couldn’t do  _ this  _ here, right now.

“Tell them to go away,” she hissed to Lexa, letting out a growl of her own to make certain that the alpha knew she meant business.

A moment later, Lexa’s voice rang out, harsh and commanding: “ _ Shof op, Brekon. Gonakru, bants!” _

That got them moving at speed, shuffling out of their tents and climbing to their feet. “ _ Gyon yo au en get klin oso ste klir,”  _ she snarled when they hesitated. “ _ Nau!” _

She was lucky that Lexa had been speaking loudly enough to hide the little moan she let out, but a moment later it didn’t matter: the alpha had taken her hand and was pulling her swiftly into the tent. When they had both entered, Lexa barely had time to unfasten the small leather loop that held the flap open before Clarke was on her. She grabbed Lexa’s hips and turned them to face her, then pressed her mouth to the alpha’s.

Lexa kissed her back for a moment, just as hungrily, her hands flying up to slide underneath Clarke’s jacket and rake her nails down the omega’s back. Even through the material of her shirt, it made her shiver and press herself even closer to the alpha. Lexa backed her up until her rear hit a table, and without prompting she hitched herself onto it. The extra bit of height brought Lexa’s center in direct contact with her own, and before long she was rubbing herself against the throbbing length between the alpha’s legs. Every thought in her head was soon replaced by frantic calculations of the most efficient way to have it in her. But before she could execute her plan, she felt Lexa’s hands at her shoulders, pushing her away gently but firmly. She reached for the alpha’s mouth again, but Lexa held her where she was.

“Clarke,” Lexa panted, her eyes searching for something within the omega’s. “I want you, I do, but…not like this.”

Clarke let out a whine, more of frustration than anything. “Then like  _ what _ , Lexa?”

“I need to know that you want this too,” the alpha said, infuriatingly sincere. Clarke wasn’t sure whether she wanted to kiss her or bite her.

“I do,” she insisted, then in a moment of wicked inspiration seized the Commander’s hand and shoved it down her pants, plunging it directly into the sticky heat at her center. Her eyes flashed with a challenge that, she was delighted to see, Lexa’s darkened to answer. “Is that proof enough for you?”

“Yes,” the alpha gasped, her fingers beginning a slow circling motion around the hard, slippery bud of Clarke’s clit. The omega felt her hips starting to follow it, but all too soon it was gone. She was about to let out a very loud snarl and demand that Lexa put that back right now, but what she saw next made the furious noise die in her throat: Lexa had put her fingers into her mouth and was sucking the wetness from each one. When the final digit had slid from her mouth with a slick pop, Clarke’s jaw was hanging open.

“You taste incredible,” Lexa said, her voice low and rough. “I would like to have more, if you are willing.”

Clarke didn’t quite grasp her meaning until she was treated to the sight of the Commander sinking to her knees, but when she realized what Lexa was suggesting, her inner walls pulsed. The feel of Lexa's shaft rubbing against her had distracted her at first, but the thought of the alpha's clever tongue running through her folds was just as good. Hazy heat-memories came rushing back to her, of Lexa's hot mouth trailing down her quivering stomach before delving hungrily between her thighs. The sensation had been beyond wonderful, although she hadn't been able to stand it for long. The primal need to be filled had overwhelmed her each time Lexa had tried to pleasure her that way, and she had ended up pulling her mate back on top of her and demanding more.

This time, she was impatient, but not quite so desperate—and, she had to admit, a little curious how it would feel to come in Lexa's mouth. The dark gleam of desire in Lexa's green eyes was unbearable, a silent plea for her to say yes, and she didn't have the willpower to fight against it.  _ "Yes, _ " she hissed, threading her fingers through Lexa's braided hair and pulling her forward. "Oh god, please,  _ yes _ ..."

It was all the permission Lexa needed. The alpha's fingers hooked into the waistband of her pants, yanking them down and off, and Clarke lifted her hips to help. Soon, they were tangled around her knees, and Lexa was ducking beneath her thighs, covering her in hot, quivering breaths. Clarke braced herself, preparing for Lexa's tongue, but instead, she felt Lexa's lips traveling up along her inner thigh, barely grazing the skin there. It almost tickled, and she squirmed on top of the table, panting out her displeasure.

"Lexa, _ don't _ ," she whined, tightening her grip on the back of the alpha's head. "I need you now. Don't tease—"

But Lexa merely switched to her other thigh, scattering gentle pecks across it and sending another rush of throbbing heat straight to her clit. The stiff bud began to swell, straining beneath its hood and pounding with its own heartbeat, and the sensation was too much for Clarke to bear. She removed one of her hands from Lexa's thick mane of hair and shoved it between her legs, sinking it into her wetness and sliding over the slippery point for a few swift circles before Lexa's fingers braceleted her wrist and yanked it away.

"No," she growled, in a voice that somehow managed to be a request and a command at once. Lexa's eyes, however, remained soft, scanning her face for any signs of uncertainty. "Let me do this right,  _ Klark. _ I never got the chance before..."

Clarke sighed. She was swiftly discovering that telling Lexa 'no' was almost impossible, even when she wasn't in heat. "Okay," she murmured, letting her knees fall open as much as her pants would allow. "Just, please... keep going."

Instead of continuing to tease, Lexa leaned forward, covering all of her in the slow, flat stroke she had been waiting for. Clarke's body stiffened, all her muscles locking up on instinct before melting in a surge of warmth. She hadn't known a single touch could make her feel  _ so _ much, but as Lexa's tongue curled deeper, gathering up more of her wetness, her thighs trembled under the warm weight of Lexa's palms. "More," she gasped, tilting her hips upward as best she could to try and direct Lexa's attention toward her clit. "Fuck, please,  _ more— _ "

Lexa did give her more, but not of what she wanted. The alpha appeared content to take her time, exploring every inch of her, darting her tongue around in what was clearly an experiment. She seemed determined to take her time, to seek out every sensitive spot other than the one she needed most. Clarke shuddered as Lexa found her entrance, swirling around it without pressing inside, and she groaned in a mixture of pleasure and disappointment, rocking forward as more sticky heat spilled out of her to coat Lexa's lips.

Her face burned, but when Lexa let out a low groan of approval, she didn't have it in her to be embarrassed. Her mate seemed to enjoy tasting her, and she  _ definitely  _ enjoyed having Lexa's mouth. She quivered as Lexa's smooth, silky tongue pressed forward, dipping just past her opening, hissing from between clenched teeth. As much as she wanted to cry out, she was all too aware that the thin material of the tent wouldn't do much to muffle their sounds. The knowledge that all of her friends and Lexa's entire army had waited outside the bunker during her heat was bad enough, and she didn't want to repeat the experience.

The sensation of Lexa’s tongue delving deep inside of her made it very difficult to resist. The Grounder had somehow managed to find a spot that sent waves of pleasure roaring through her with every stroke, making her inner walls ripple and pulse. Despite her best efforts to keep still, Clarke couldn't stop her hips from moving with the rhythm of Lexa’s thrusts, and soon she was shamelessly riding the Commander’s tongue. Her head tipped back and her eyes squeezed shut with the effort of not shouting her pleasure to the roof of the tent.

She felt one of Lexa’s hands leave her hip and trail across her abdomen, her skin prickling in its wake, before sliding slowly downwards. She wasn't sure what the alpha was planning until she felt a calloused thumb press against the swollen bud of her clit, pushing back its hood before beginning to rub firm, steady circles across its straining head. Clarke’s chin snapped back down and her eyes flew open, gasping as she attempted to process these new sensations, but if she was hoping to maintain her self-control, it was a mistake. The sight of Lexa’s huge, beautiful green eyes staring up at her from between her legs, darkened with desire, made her entire body pulse and flare with heat.

It wasn't long before she was quaking and trembling on the edge of release, everything in her crying out for Lexa to push her just a little bit further. But she couldn't find the words, so wrapped up was she in the sensations of Lexa’s tongue and fingers, and the way that her mate was gazing at her, as though she could see the stars indoors when she looked at Clarke. The intensity of that look was enough to make her suck in a breath, her chest tightening with a flood of feeling that she couldn't quite name, or didn't yet dare to.

Lexa seemed to sense that she was getting overwhelmed with the sensations and with the power of her gaze. She removed her tongue—Clarke let out a whimper—and replaced it with her fingers, first two and then three when the omega’s hips jerked forward in search of more fullness. Narrowing her eyes, she slowly ran her tongue across her bottom lip, and then grinned as Clarke’s eyes followed the movement in its entirety. “I want to taste your  _ strikwan,”  _ she said, her voice deepened and roughened by need. “Tell me what I must do for you,  _ Klark,  _ so that you will give it to me.”

Speaking in Trigedasleng was an excellent start, Clarke thought as she shuddered, but it wouldn't do for Lexa to know just how much the harsh consonants turned her on outside of her heat. She rolled her hips into Lexa’s hand, doing her best to keep her voice steady. For the most part she managed, although the glint in the Commander’s eyes suggested that the breathiness in her tone had given her away. “I want your mouth again,” she said, tugging a bit at the alpha’s hair. “And for god’s sake fuck me like you mean it, Lex— _ ah!” _

Before she'd even finished speaking, Lexa was doing as she asked. She dove back in between Clarke’s legs and began lashing her clit mercilessly with her tongue, alternating with periods of sucking and biting. At the same time, she began thrusting her fingers in earnest, each stroke catching exactly the right spot to make Clarke quake. There was nothing she could do against the two-pronged onslaught, and she was so wound up that she didn't care. Her head tipped back, and her mouth fell open in a silent scream as all the tension that she'd been carrying in her body was drawn to an excruciating point. She arched into Lexa’s mouth, releasing in heavy pulses of wetness.

When she'd recovered enough to look down at the alpha, what she saw extended her orgasm for another few seconds: Lexa taking her in eagerly, greedily, unwilling to lose even a single drop of her. She felt a heavy blush suffusing her entire body, and she couldn't hold back the needy whimper that fell out of her mouth. She could only hope that the alpha hadn't heard.

Her hopes were in vain; Lexa’s eyes flicked up to meet hers, and she could feel the Commander grinning against her overheated sex. After a few more slow, languorous swipes of her tongue, like a cat licking its chops to make sure that absolutely everything was gone, she rose to her feet in one sinuous movement and brought their lips crashing together. Clarke was more than happy to tangle her hands in Lexa’s hair, digging her nails into the Grounder’s scalp in an effort to bring her impossibly closer.

Her roughness made Lexa groan into her mouth, and give an involuntary pump of her hips. All at once, Clarke was reminded of the throbbing length between her mate’s legs, and despite the ferocity of her recent orgasm, she was suffused with the need for more. Lexa would press her down to the table, thrust into her in one smooth motion, and she would get to feel the Commander surging over her once more, pumping into her furiously until she spilled her release into Clarke’s innermost places…

“Lexa,” she gasped into the alpha’s mouth, “need you in me  _ now.”  _ Lexa could only manage a low, desperate whine, but apparently she agreed, because she pumped her hips even harder into Clarke’s soaked center. Clarke’s hand shot out of Lexa’s hair and flew down to the buttons of her pants, fumbling to undo them. She growled furiously against the alpha’s lips as she struggled to get her fingers to cooperate, but somehow, she managed to undo enough of them to draw Lexa out, hard and dripping and already throbbing with need.

She only had time to think  _ Holy shit  _ before Lexa was sinking into her with a ragged groan. The sudden stretch made her hiss, but she realized how much she'd missed this fullness. When Lexa’s hips began driving wildly against hers, she had to bite down  _ hard  _ on her shoulder to avoid letting the entire compound know how good it felt, muffling her moans in the fabric of Lexa’s jacket.

But apparently, Lexa hadn't lied about how much she'd enjoyed Clarke’s orgasm, because it was over far too soon. After only a few more powerful thrusts, she felt Lexa’s cock give a heavy twitch inside of her. Heat flooded inside of her in heavy pulses, so much that it threatened to overflow, but the fullness of Lexa’s knot had grown to block her entrance, and her inner walls had closed around it. Clarke froze, staring into Lexa’s wide eyes.

“Did you just—”

“I am  _ so  _ sor—”

“Hey morons, you'd better be done making out, because it's time to get back to the—holy shit!”

They both whirled, identical expressions of startled mortification on their faces, just in time to see Raven and Anya barge into the tent. Their friends’ expressions started out gleeful and mocking, but quickly morphed into horror. Raven clapped a hand over her eyes and Anya turned her gaze to the roof of the tent, but the damage was already done.

“Well, this is a question I'd hoped never to have to ask you,  _ Heda,  _ but…are you tied?” Anya said wincingly.

Clarke and Lexa both flushed guiltily, and the alpha croaked out, “Yes.”

Raven let out a loud groan, but Anya managed to restrain herself long enough to say very delicately, “In that case, I will inform the rest that the resumption of our deliberations will have to be delayed. Please…arrive when you're able.”

Neither Clarke nor Lexa could manage a response. She hid her burning face in Lexa’s jacket, unable to look at either of them any longer.

“And I'm going to go find some bleach for my brain,” Raven declared, turning on her heel and very nearly marching into one of the tent posts. Anya tugged her out of the way, however, and then they both left as fast as they could.

After a moment of silence for their murdered dignity, Clarke mumbled into Lexa’s shoulder, “What do you think are the chances of everybody not guessing what happened immediately?”

“Slim to none,” Lexa said bleakly, huffing a sigh into Clarke’s hair.

Clarke knew that their situation wasn't funny, that it was a diplomatic disaster at best and that they were in for a  _ ton  _ of ridicule from their friends, but she couldn't help it: something about the whole thing was tickling her, and it soon bubbled out of her throat in fits of laughter. “I'm sorry,” she said to the astonished Lexa in between giggles, “I don't know what's…”

The alpha stared at her for a few seconds, nonplussed, but a moment later Clarke was treated to the rare, beautiful sound of Lexa’s laughter, twining with hers and spiraling to the ceiling. The two of them collapsed against each other in their hilarity, and at some point Clarke closed her eyes, suffused with something she couldn't remember feeling since she’d been sent to the ground, maybe even before: true happiness. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Trigedasleng:**
> 
> _Shof op, Brekon. Gonakru, bants!_ Be quiet, Brekon. Warriors, leave!  
>  _Gyon yo au en get klin oso ste klir:_ Go and make certain that we are safe.  
>  _Nau:_ Now


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo! Rae here. More smut incoming, as well as Ranya awkwardness, and FINALLY some shreds of plot. xD
> 
> Please follow us on tumblr at @raedmagdon and @n1ghtwr1ter if you haven't already.
> 
> [](http://s558.photobucket.com/user/calfaolan/media/green78%20-%20twon%20cover_zpskkb485uj.jpg.html)  
> 

When Lexa finally caught her breath, she found herself gazing into Clarke's eyes. They left her even dizzier than before, and her head spun as she lost herself in deep, endless blue. She didn't come back to herself until she felt the faint brush of Clarke's hand against the side of her face, tracing just beneath her warpaint. "Your makeup looks a little smudged," the omega murmured, leaving little pools of heat wherever her fingertips touched. "You didn't get it all over me, did you?"

Lexa blinked to clear her mind, brow furrowing as she studied Clarke's face. There were indeed several black smudges against her mate’s cheeks, and she bit her lip to stifle her laughter. "I'm afraid so," she said, flushing with embarrassment as well as amusement. "As if we needed any help making fools of ourselves..."

Clarke snorted, not even bothering to wipe her face clear. "Too late to do anything about it now. What happened, happened. For now, we should focus on trying to get un-stuck."

Lexa gave her hips a testing wiggle, trying to draw back, but as she had feared, there was no give. She and Clarke were tied, and she didn't want to run the risk of hurting her mate by struggling to pull out. "No good. I suppose we will have to wait," she said, both remorseful and a little bit happy. Despite the awkward interruption and their stalled negotiations, she couldn't bring herself to feel too sad about the prospect of spending a few more minutes in Clarke's company.

Clarke didn't appear too put out either. "Anything I can do to help you along?" she asked with a smirk. "Maybe talk about really boring, gross things?"

Lexa made a noise of disapproval, shaking her head. "Please, refrain... although maybe if you relax, I might be able to pull out sooner." At Clarke's questioning look, Lexa swallowed, awkwardly clearing her throat. "You are still very tight around me, _Klark._ "

At those words, the smooth muscles around her squeezed even harder, clutching at the base of her knot and milking the length of her shaft. She groaned in surprise, sagging forward and raking her nails inadvertently along Clarke's thighs. "Sorry," Clarke said, in a tone that suggested she wasn't the least bit sorry at all. "I guess I'm still a little worked up. I didn't get to come again once you started fucking me."

Lexa couldn't bring herself to meet Clarke's gaze. It was true that she hadn't had many sexual partners—a few fumbling experiments with heavy petting that hardly counted, and then her mating with Costia—but she had never thought of herself as the type of person to leave a lover unsatisfied. Clarke was her mate, and she felt obligated to make sure all of the Sky Girl's needs were met. "Perhaps I can help?" she offered, more than a little sheepishly. "If another release would make you more comfortable..."

Clarke's hooded eyes flashed hungrily, and the tip of her tongue peeked out to roll over her bottom lip. "You know what? It _would_ please me. And we're stuck together anyway. Everyone can just wait a little longer."

A smile spread across Lexa's face at that pronouncement, and she brought one of her hands between their bodies, dipping between Clarke's splayed legs to find her clit. The bud was still swollen and slippery, and pleasing little shudders passed through Clarke's inner walls every time she touched it. The ripples teased Lexa back to aching hardness again, but she didn't try to stifle the reaction. She had barely begun to soften anyway, and she suspected she wouldn't be able to without another orgasm of her own.

Despite her swell of need, she kept her focus on Clarke. She listened carefully as her fingers explored, examining the subtle reactions that played across Clarke's face, searching for the speed and pressure the omega liked best. The soft sighs she earned when she drew circles and the gentle moans Clarke made when she began rocking her hips were wonderfully encouraging, and she increased her efforts, determined to make up for her previous neglect.

"How are you so good at this," Clarke muttered in a low voice, lashes fluttering against her cheeks. Her breasts began to sway slightly with every thrust, and even though Lexa could only see the tops thanks to Clarke's shirt, it was still enough to entrance her. "Fuck, Lexa, you hit me so deep..."

Lexa stifled a grunt, jogging her hips faster. She couldn't really thrust while they were tied together, but she hoped the shifting motion was giving Clarke as much pleasure as it was providing her. Evidently she was doing something right, because the omega’s moans began to increase in volume, and Lexa could see the hard points of her nipples poking through the fabric of her shirt. She badly wanted to touch them, but to do so she would have to abandon her grasp of Clarke’s hip or stop rubbing her clit. Doing either of those things was unthinkable to her, and she found herself frozen by indecision.

Thankfully, Clarke still had her wits about her. She followed Lexa’s yearning look to its source, then gave a low, breathy chuckle that sent a jolt of arousal straight to the alpha’s core. “It’s okay,” she said when Lexa reddened and attempted to avert her eyes. “I never said you couldn’t look. In fact, I want you to look…and touch.” Lexa was powerless to resist Clarke’s words, her gaze snapping back to the omega’s before dropping lower…to where Clarke had pulled up her shirt. She had also yanked down the garment that supported her breasts—Lexa vaguely remembered Clarke calling it a bra—and its position was now pushing them up and out, full and enticing. She couldn’t swallow her groan.

Apparently this wasn’t enough for Clarke, however, because the omega reached up and tangled her fingers in the curls at the back of Lexa’s neck. The omega drew her forward into a short but bruising kiss, before placing her hand on the top of Lexa’s head and urging her lower. As soon as her lips were wrapped around one straining nipple, she heard Clarke let out a loud moan. “Oh, _god,_ Lexa,” she breathed out. “Feels so good…ah!” Her short cry was the result of Lexa’s taking the stiff bud between her teeth and biting down—not hard, just enough to pinch a little before she returned to sucking. When she glanced up at Clarke to gauge her reaction, she nearly wound up falling into another orgasm of her own.

The Sky girl’s head was tipped back, mouth open in a silent scream of pleasure, although all that came out of it were hoarse pants. Lexa gave a low growl as her cock twitched hard within Clarke’s heated embrace, and she had to fight to hold back the pressure building in her knot. She released the nipple in her mouth with a slick pop, and Clarke moaned desperately, “Lexa, _no…_ please don’t stop…” But she wasn’t stopping, just switching to the other breast, which seemed nearly to plead for her attention. As her mouth engulfed the straining point, she increased the pressure of her thumb on Clarke’s clit, and was rewarded with a heavy shudder.

Encouraged by the response her previous ministrations had elicited, Lexa bit down again, a little harder. Clarke let out a wail, her nails digging into the back of her head and where they gripped her shoulder, and her inner walls rippled around Lexa’s cock. All at once Lexa could feel her orgasm racing towards her, and knew that there was nothing she could do to forestall it this time. She just had to make certain that Clarke came with her.

The omega’s hips rocked against hers with every shallow thrust, still struggling to take her cock impossibly deeper. She had fully bottomed out and Clarke was so _tight_ around her that she could barely move, but she focused on pressing the top of her knot to the swollen spot on Clarke’s front wall that, she knew, would trigger a flood. With the hand not gripping Clarke’s waist, she redoubled her efforts on the omega’s clit, pushing back its thin hood and milking the shaft with two fingers, while continuing to roll the pad of her thumb over its straining head.

Just when she thought she wouldn’t be able to take any more, that she’d be forced to spill her release and beg Clarke’s forgiveness after, the omega gave out another sharp cry. Her inner walls struggled to contract around the fullness of Lexa’s swollen cock and knot, but then she was clamping down around her in shivering waves. Somehow, even at her orgasm’s peak, she managed to gasp out, “Lexa, let go…come with me.”

Lexa did, her release racing along her shaft and spilling from her in thick, shivering pulses. She groaned long and loud, suddenly not caring who heard her. The only person who mattered in the whole world was Clarke—Clarke, who was coming around her, coming _with_ her, who bore Lexa’s mating mark and was taking her knot and her come so beautifully… _“Klark!”_ she roared to the roof of the tent, no longer able to hold herself back, no longer quite sure why she’d wanted to.

The hot jets of come seemed to lengthen Clarke’s release. The omega’s walls tightened even further, milking her knot for all that she had. With a gasp, she let her head drop to Clarke’s shoulder and felt the omega’s hand in her hair, no longer tugging but gently stroking. That served to ease her through the end of her orgasm, and she sighed as the last spurts flooded the omega’s womb. She was content for that moment to simply exist, enjoying the rhythm of Clarke’s breathing and the rapid flutter of her heartbeat as though they were the only two people in the world.

"Mmm. Lexa?"

She stirred at last, unsure how long she had remained still in the circle of Clarke's arms. Her mate's embrace was comforting, and she had been content to let her mind float as they emerged from the afterglow. "You aren't uncomfortable, are you?" she asked, gazing at her mate with concern. Clarke's expression didn't seem pained, but she was unwilling to take any chances.

"No, not at all." Clarke's palms passed up and down between her shoulder blades, stroking her back in soothing lines. "But we should get back to the negotiations. Everyone else is waiting for us, and we still have to clean up."

Lexa's face flushed. Although most of her release was trapped safely inside Clarke, her cheeks and chin were still covered in the drying evidence of the omega's first orgasm, and she had no doubt that once she pulled out, they would have even more of a mess to deal with. "Of course," she stammered, shifting her hips back. Her knot had started to fade at last, and although she was reluctant to leave Clarke's warmth, she managed to withdraw without too much difficulty. She groaned as her slick shaft hit the air, struggling to hitch up her pants and cover it again.

"Wait..." Clarke stood from the table shaking legs, wobbling as she found her footing. With a shy smile, she finished the job of doing up Lexa's fly, tucking her cock away and patting the softening bulge. "Okay. Go wash your face and fix your makeup and... do you have anything I can wear?" Lexa saw the omega's eyes dart down to her own pants, which were in a heap around her ankles and considerably stained.

Lexa nodded. "Yes, although I am not sure how well my clothes will fit you." She stole another glance at Clarke's body, still mostly exposed with her shirt rucked up beneath her arms and her bra pulled down to reveal her breasts. "Our figures are quite different."

"I'll manage," Clarke assured her. "Anything clean will do."

With a sheepish smile, Lexa hurried over to one of the packs she had brought with her. Although she had traveled light, she had possessed enough foresight to bring several outfits. A commander couldn't afford to look anything but well put together during negotiations. She removed the pair of pants she thought would fit Clarke's generous hips best and brought them over, turning in time to see the omega fixing her bra and top. Lexa allowed herself a moment to mourn the loss of such a beautiful sight, but remained silent as she handed her offering over.

"They seem a little snug," Clarke said, stepping out of her own pants and pulling up the new ones. A small, adorable frown twitched around her lips as she tried to tug them up past the firm swell of her backside and the feminine curve of her lower belly. "But I think I can get them to fit."

"Good," Lexa said, trying not to let her eyes linger too long. She knew that Clarke was her mate, and that her attention was obviously welcome if the pleasure they had just shared was any indication, but she still felt something of a fool for staring without any subtlety. "I should... ah... go wash my face." _And try and think of a way to return to the negotiations without seeming like a stupid, lovesick pup._

* * *

"Well... uh..."

Anya caught Raven stealing awkward glances at her, but she remained facing forward, trying to keep her expression neutral. _Don't bring it up._ Beja _, don't bring it up. For the love of all that is good, don't bring it up..._

"That was pretty awkward, huh?"

She sighed, stopping halfway to the dropship and raising her eyes to the sky. Keryon _, what have I gotten myself into? Leksa is acting as crazy as these Skaikru fools, and I'm beginning to fear I will join her soon._ With a heavy sigh, she turned back to her beta companion, trying to get a hold of herself. "Yes," she agreed, "but I would prefer not to discuss it any further. Seeing the woman I trained from a pup in mid-rut is an image I would like to forget."

"I feel you," Raven said with a grin. "I didn't really want to see Clarke going at it either. I mean, she did screw my boyfriend before I got down here."

Anya's brows lifted in surprise. The unwelcome mental images of Lexa and Clarke entwined on the table had abruptly left her head, but they were replaced with something surprisingly worse—thoughts about their earlier conversation, where Raven had confessed to sleeping with Bellamy. "You mean _Belomi?_ " she asked, glancing back nervously toward Lexa's tent. "Do not let the Commander know that he and Clarke were once involved. The two of them are already at odds, and she will not take it well."

Oddly enough, Raven barked out a laugh. “Oh god no, not Bellamy. He and Clarke have been at each other’s throats since we got here, and they’ve only just stopped snapping and growling at each other on sight. No, I was talking about Finn.”

Anya frowned, trying to remember who Finn was. After a moment, she came up with a vague image of a boy with floppy brown hair. “The beta?” she said hesitantly, not quite able to meet Raven’s eye as they continued their progress into the dropship. She understood the _Skayon_ ’s choice of Bellamy somewhat, at least in the short term—his temper seemed too volatile to make him a good mate, but he did seem to be a strong alpha. But Finn had done little to distinguish himself in her eyes, and she could not discern why both Raven _and_ Clarke might have fallen into his arms.

“Mmhmm,” Raven said, all at once extremely interested in clearing up a bit of clutter in a corner of the dropship. “We were together on the Ark for a while. He was my best friend, and really my only family up there. Then he got imprisoned for… well, something dumb, but he was trying to give me a present for my birthday and got caught doing something we shouldn’t have done. So when all of the Delinquents got sent down here, he was with them.”

“But you weren’t?” Anya said curiously.

Raven shook her head. “No, I came down later. Clarke’s mom sent me, actually. She was worried that the kids were dying down here and wanted to find a way to establish contact.”

Anya’s brow furrowed. “Clarke’s mother allowed her to leave without a way to establish communication?”

Raven sighed. “It’s kind of a long story, and not really mine to tell because I wasn’t one of them, but basically most of the people down here are juvenile delinquents. We weren’t going to be able to live in our space station up there for much longer, but we didn’t know if the ground was survivable. Everything was supposed to be wiped out by the war. So they decided to send a bunch of kids—prisoners who might’ve been floated anyway when they turned eighteen, if the council review didn’t go well—to see if we could all come down here somehow, and live.”

“And Clarke and Finn were two of these prisoners.”

Raven nodded. “Yup.”

“Your people were willing to send them down here, not knowing if they would be able to survive, because of crimes they had committed in their youth?”

The beta looked uncomfortable, and Anya nearly regretted the question. But so much about the _Skaikru_ remained unknown, and she felt that this was important to understand.

“I know it sounds harsh, but when you’ve got that many people up there trapped in a tin can…there wasn’t much more space than what we’ve got in here, and it was difficult to keep order,” Raven said, not sounding as though she entirely believed what she was saying, but was reciting it from rote. “So our Council decided that any crimes would be punishable by death, or imprisonment if you were younger than eighteen. Then, on your eighteenth birthday, you’d get reviewed to see whether they’d release you into the general population or you’d get floated. Or at least, that was how things used to be. Now, I guess…” The mechanic shrugged. “You get sent down here.”

Anya found herself growing livid. That a society could choose to imprison its youngest and most impressionable members, or even toss them away like so much garbage, for even the slightest of infractions, was unthinkable to her. Life on the ground was so precarious that children were highly valued, protected, nurtured… Did these Sky people have so much luxury that they could simply throw away lives that had hardly begun? She’d seen how young some of these children were—some of them could scarcely be depended upon to know right from wrong, and yet they had all faced death for whatever it was they’d done.

But it wasn’t her place to question Raven’s entire society, no matter how dearly she’d like to: the beta hadn’t created their world, just learned to live in it. Forcing back her anger, she gave the mechanic a small smile. “Well, it seems that this fate is not quite so terrible. You have, after all, survived.”

Raven nodded, gratefully returning her grin. “Yep. And there’s so much more _space_ down here! I mean, up there it was _all_ space, but…you get the point.”

Anya wasn’t so sure she did, but she nodded anyway. Eager to keep Raven talking, though entirely unwilling to admit exactly why that might be, she said, “You never did finish telling me about this…entanglement between Clarke, Finn, and yourself.”

Raven rolled her eyes. “Not much to tell. Dumb jerk comes down here with the rest of them, starts hitting on Clarke, fails to mention his girlfriend of, like, _forever,_ they hook up in a bunker, and I crash-land on the planet to say—”

“Hey guys, what’s up?”

Anya whirled, startled by the sound of another voice. Her nose hadn't picked up anyone else's scent, and she hadn't heard the sound of footfalls, but in an environment as strange and chaotic as the dropship, that wasn't surprising. She tensed, bristling until she recognized the person who had approached them. When she did, a frown took up residence on her face. It seemed that their conversation about Finn had summoned the beta himself. She’d thought that the afternoon couldn't get any more awkward after what they had already been forced to deal with, but apparently she’d been wrong.

"Hey, Finn," Raven said, giving him a half-hearted wave. She didn't seem particularly pleased by his intrusion, and Anya couldn't help feeling a little smug that Raven preferred her company to his. "Anya and I just got back from checking on Clarke and Lexa."

At the mention of Clarke, Finn's face fell. "Are they coming back soon? They're taking a pretty long lunch..."

Anya snorted. "That is a polite way of putting it." Finn seemed to pick up on her meaning, because he looked even more crestfallen than before. _Good. He needs to learn that holding on to feelings for someone else's mate will only bring heartache. Better that he move on._

After a moment, Finn seemed to collect himself. "What about you, Raven?" he asked in a more cheerful voice. "Playing the good host and showing the Grounders around our camp?"

"I took Anya by my workshop, if that's what you mean," Raven said coolly, folding her arms across her chest. "She seemed pretty impressed."

Anya's lips pulled into a small smirk. She could guess what Raven was trying to do, and in an effort to help, she puffed out her chest, taking a more dominant stance. "Not just with the workshop," she drawled, giving Raven a long, lingering look. "If the rest of you _Skaikru_ are as clever and resourceful as _Reivon_ , our Commander's Coalition will be thrilled to offer you a place among us."

Finn looked as though he had been struck across the face. His mouth fell open, but Raven was already prepared, reaching out to stroke the side of Anya's arm. "Yeah? Well, I think Clarke had the right idea, trying to _get along_ with you Grounders. Your people really know how to make a go of it down here... and I bet all that muscle doesn't hurt, either."

The pained wrinkle in the middle of Finn's brow and the slight quivering of his lower lip told Anya that their little display had been successful. "Perhaps the two of us should go and check on our leaders again," she said, linking her elbow through Raven's. "Surely they must be finished with their... lunch... by now. We need to conclude our negotiations."

Raven grinned. "I dunno. Lexa's got some appetite. We might end up waiting a while. I guess I'll just have to keep you entertained until they're done."

"If it's going to be a while, I should go check on Bellamy," Finn mumbled, averting his eyes. "Someone has to make sure he isn't causing trouble with the Commander’s warriors."

"Good idea," Raven said. "You go do that. We'll come get you when we're ready to start again."

Shoulders slumping in defeat, Finn turned and headed for the dropship exit, disappearing back outside without another word. Once he was out of earshot, Raven started laughing. "Okay, I _know_ shouldn't have enjoyed that so much, but he kind of deserved it," she said, unlacing their arms. "I mean, he didn't even wait ten days for me to get down to the ground. If he thinks Clarke and I are gonna wait for _him_ , he's kidding himself."

"Well, you should have plenty of options," Anya said, trying to keep her voice casual. "Once our people are allies, I expect several members of _Trikru_ would be interested. Perhaps even some of my warriors."

"We'll see," Raven said. Their eyes met for a moment, and there was an uncomfortable pause. "Anyway, I can't have Finn thinking I'm a safe backup option now that Clarke's taken. I need to move on and find someone who doesn't think of me as a second choice. Maybe we'll be friends again once this blows over, but when it comes to romance, I deserve better."

Anya most certainly could not argue with that, but she found her words sticking in her throat. Instead she nodded and offered Raven the most charming smile she could. The mechanic returned it with one of such brilliance that it seemed to light up the dropship’s dim interior, and Anya felt her heart sink. The thought of Raven moving on to another romantic prospect was, worryingly, quite unpleasant to her. She had thought she was evolving a fast friendship with this strange but amusing _Skayon,_ but if that were the case, she should be excited by the renewal of her _friend’s_ romantic prospects. Instead, the idea made her feel dread.

With a heavy sigh, Anya followed Raven out of the dropship, heading for the Commander’s tent. Hopefully, Clarke and Lexa would have recovered their reason—what little of it they had left—and were ready to get back to the negotiations. Something about the _Skaikru_ seemed to turn perfectly sensible alphas into idiots, and the sooner they were clear of this place, the better. _Chit yu ste dula?_ Anya asked herself. _Bad enough that Lexa’s already tangled up with one of these crazy_ Skaikru. _No, you need to stop this now._ Someone _needs to keep their head clear around here…so that we don’t all lose ours._

* * *

The afternoon was spent trying to hammer out the terms of the truce between the Arkers (Clarke caught herself thinking of them as _Skaikru_ a couple of times) and the Grounders. She’d been worried that the scene Raven and Anya had unintentionally witnessed, and the noises that pretty much everyone in the camp had heard, would make things unbearably awkward, and she was right. But the awkwardness appeared to actually be working in their favor. Bellamy and Lexa were far less inclined to try to compare knot sizes with the room stinking unavoidably of their most recent activities. There were a few tense moments, but far sooner than Clarke could have believed, they had a working treaty sketched out on the back of an old MRE wrapper, and Raven had headed to her engineering tent to begin the process of trying to raise the Ark on the satcom.

To Clarke’s surprise, Anya didn’t insist on staying with her Commander, but instead followed the mechanic out of the dropship. The tension in the room dropped a couple of notches as Bellamy let out a sigh of relief, rubbing the back of his neck a bit sheepishly. He still couldn’t look Clarke in the eye as he mumbled something about having to take a leak, and lurched out of his seat. Clarke contemplated following him to apologize, but quickly decided against it: from what she knew of the alpha boy, the best way to get past the awkwardness was to ignore it until it went away, and never speak of it again.

But some awkwardness just couldn’t be ignored, especially when it was staring right at her. Finn was leaning up against the far wall of the dropship like he had been all day, alternating between glaring balefully at Lexa’s back and gazing mournfully at Clarke. She knew he probably wanted to talk to her alone, but she couldn’t imagine Lexa taking that particularly kindly. While she hadn’t exactly been forthcoming with details about their previous relationship to each other, Clarke couldn’t imagine that the Commander hadn’t gleaned much of it from simple observation. Finn wasn’t exactly subtle.

After a few minutes of this, Clarke was fidgeting and ready to confront him, but they were spared by the arrival of Raven, looking windswept and excited. “We got them!”

Clarke’s eyebrows rose. “Already? That has to be a new record or something, right?”

Raven smirked. “You bet your ass. I make it better every time.” Clarke rolled her eyes and nearly missed the grin the beta shot back over her shoulder to Anya, tongue poking out between her teeth. After a moment’s hesitation Anya returned it with a lazy smile, but Clarke thought she could smell just a little bit of embarrassment clouding the alpha’s typically dominant scent.

But she didn’t have time to try to figure out what was going on with those two, because Raven had surged forward and started tugging her out of her chair. “Come _on!_ We’ve got a decent connection, but the first cloud that passes over us might disrupt it. You can give each other heart-eyes later.” Clarke allowed herself to be pulled up and out of the room, shooting Lexa an apologetic glance over her shoulder. The Commander gave her a small smile as she followed.

It was a tight fit, with Lexa, Clarke, Anya, and Raven all crowded into the mechanic’s tent, and it would have been tighter still – but when Finn tried to follow them in, Clarke shook her head. “Not enough room in here, Finn, sorry. Maybe go tell Bellamy that we have the Ark on the comm?”

Finn gave her a look that said he knew exactly what she was doing, but didn’t argue. Turning back to Raven, she found the mechanic swearing under her breath as she fussed with the dials, struggling to get the hissing image on the screen to resolve into more than static. “Sorry, guys, we lost it…an asteroid probably farted. Hang on though, I think I can get it back pretty quick.” Clarke nodded, putting a hand on her shoulder to let her know she could take her time, then settled back into one of the battered camp chairs to wait. After a moment, Lexa followed her.

“So…we will speak with your ruling Council and its Chancellor,” the alpha said softly after a moment of companionable silence. “Do you think they will be amenable to the terms we’ve set?”

Clarke shrugged. “I don’t really see how they have much choice. They’re up there, we’re down here, and your alliance is with us. When they come down, they’re just going to have to live with it.” She caught Lexa giving her an astonished look. “What?”

The Grounder’s face quickly resolved into a soft smile. “Nothing. I just…you have a very firm grasp of leadership for one so young.”

Clarke snorted at her. “That’s a little rich coming from you, isn’t it?”

Lexa shrugged, but there wasn't time to continue their conversation. Raven made a triumphant noise, and the picture on the terminal flickered to life. A very familiar face appeared on the screen, and while Lexa gave a soft gasp beside her—probably because she was impressed by the technology—Clarke felt her own heart sink. Although she'd been far too busy the past few days to stew over their strained relationship, her mother was still one of the _last_ people she wanted to talk to—especially with her new Grounder mate at her side.

"Clarke," Abby said with a relieved smile. "It's good to see you."

Clarke stiffened, trying to decide on the best way to respond. _Just be civil and focus on the treaty_ , she told herself, struggling to get a handle on the conflicted emotions stirring in her chest. _Your issues with your mom aren't important right now._ "Hi, Mom. Good to see you too."

Lexa's eyes widened in surprise, and she gave Clarke a look that didn't require any words. Clarke returned it with a small, grudging nod. She was sure they would talk about this later, but they had more urgent priorities.

It was then that Abby seemed to notice Lexa. Her expression became much more guarded, and her smile disappeared. "Who's that with you?" she asked, with an audible note of suspicion. "I take it this isn't a social call."

Clarke took a deep breath. It was now or never. "This is Commander Lexa, leader of the Twelve Clans. She's here as a representative of the Grounders. We need to speak to Chancellor Jaha immediately."

"What? I thought the Grounders had already killed—"

"They want to make peace," Clarke insisted, interrupting before her mother could talk herself into a hole. "We crash-landed right in the middle of their territory and started waving guns around. They thought we were a threat and were trying to defend themselves. Anyway, Commander Lexa and I came to an agreement. They're willing to help us all learn how to survive down here and share their resources with us if we share our technology with them. There's a lot our farmers and scientists and doctors could teach them."

Clarke half-expected her mother to argue, but instead, Abby nodded her agreement. "A peaceful exchange of ideas is always better than war. I just wish you'd..." She seemed to think better of what she was about to say—probably an unnecessary expression of concern for her safety, Clarke suspected—because she changed the subject. "Jaha wanted to speak to you anyway about your expedition to Mount Weather. He's coming here right now. I'll tell him the Grounders want to talk." She turned, speaking softly to someone outside the camera's view.

Clarke strained to hear, but the soft brush of fingertips against her forearm distracted her. She turned to see Lexa's worried face hovering close to hers. "What's wrong? We haven't even gotten started."

"Did _yu nomon_ say Mount Weather?" Lexa said, in an urgent whisper. "Clarke, the acid fog that sealed us in the bunker comes from _Maun-de._ The people who live there, the _Maunon_ , are incredibly dangerous. They steal our warriors, and most never return. Those that do... they come back as monsters, stripped of their humanity. We call them _Ripa:_ Reapers."

It took Clarke several seconds to process what Lexa was saying. "Wait, you mean there are other people who survived down here?" Several pieces were already coming together in her head, and they didn't form a pretty picture. "Some of those Grounders who attacked our people before, could they have been Reapers?"

"Yes," Lexa said. "They are mindless killers. The Mountain Men have _tek_ , like you. None of us know what they do to transform our people into animals, and we know of no way to bring them back." She straightened her shoulders. "That is one reason I hoped to enter into an alliance with _Skaikru._ Perhaps with your knowledge, we might find a way to save them."

"Or kill them," Clarke said, her mind already racing. "Is this why you were so interested in our weapons? We only just made peace! I don't want my people dragged into another war—"

More voices came from the monitor, and they turned to see another face taking up residence there. Chancellor Jaha had arrived, and was watching them with guarded interest. "Chancellor Jaha," Clarke said, trying to get a grip on herself. Regardless of Lexa's intentions toward these strange Mountain Men, it was much too late to abandon their course now. "This is Commander Lexa. She leads the Grounders. We’ve spent the past day working out a plan for peace."

Jaha frowned. “Now hold on a minute, Clarke. I know you’ve been doing a great job keeping things together down here, but we really can’t agree to just anything. We’ll need to work out the terms of a definitive treaty—”

“We have,” Clarke said, struggling to tamp down her impatience and keep her tone respectful. On the one hand, she could understand the Chancellor’s skepticism. All he saw was a very young girl who looked like she could badly use a wash, and while she might be Abby Griffin’s daughter, she wasn’t Abby Griffin. But they had been _surviving_ down here for weeks now, fighting off starvation and mutated predators and hostile natives who saw them as invaders, and if he thought he was going to be able to reduce her to what she had been on the Ark—just another prisoner, another omega—then he had another think coming. “We’ve discussed what the Grounders want from us in terms of peace, and we’ve come to a mutually beneficial agreement.”

To Clarke’s annoyance, Jaha seemed to have stopped listening partway through her statement. He was peering at the screen, squinting to get a better look at the alpha beside her. To Lexa’s credit, she kept her face as impassive as always, the mask of _Heda_ firmly in place, but Clarke could smell her annoyance rising. Eventually Jaha’s race relaxed into a smile that Clarke was sure he meant to be ingratiating, but that she recognized as the broad grin of a snake showing its fangs. “You’re…Lexa?”

“Commander Lexa,” the alpha said, emphasizing the title a lot less than Clarke would have. Jaha nodded, clearly preparing to play along.

“And you’re the leader of the people around here?”

“I am the leader of all my people,” Lexa said, in the same steely tone. Clarke had to suppress a shudder at the way power dripped from her words. “I am _Heda_ of the Twelve Clans, including the _Trikru,_ on whose lands your people fell. If you and your people wish to remain, you will accept my rule.”

The speakers on the transmitter erupted in static as everyone in the room tried to speak at once, and Raven hastened to turn down the volume as Jaha roared for order. Once the uproar had resolved, the Chancellor reseated himself, his jovial smile gone and his eyes hard. “That’s somewhat of a bold statement, isn’t it, Commander? You attacked our children the moment they arrived on the ground and have kept up a campaign of hostility ever since. While you seem to have come to a temporary ceasefire, how can we be sure that you won’t resume your aggression?”

Clarke was seated close enough to Lexa that she could feel a sub-audible growl rumbling through the alpha’s body, and hastened to place her hand on the Commander’s knee, below the sight of the camera. She met Lexa’s eyes and saw fury in them, but also something like a question. _Trust me on this,_ she thought at the alpha, hoping Lexa could read her expression. After a moment, the Grounder gave her the slightest of nods.

When Clarke looked back at the camera, her heart sank: her mother was already leaning in, suspicion plain on her face. Before Abby could open her mouth, Clarke drew a breath and said, “Because Lexa has taken me as her mate.”

Clarke leaned back again in anticipation of the furor that was sure to erupt from the transmitter’s tinny speakers, but that uproar never came. Instead, there was a cacophonous boom that seemed to shake the very earth, and then the wall of the compound exploded inward.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Trigedasleng:**
> 
> _Beja:_ Please  
>  _Keryon:_ Spirit  
>  _Chit yu ste dula?_ What are you doing?  
>  _Yu nomon:_ your mother  
>  _Maun-de:_ Mount Weather  
>  _Maunon:_ Mountain Men


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And the thick plottens! Yep, a lot of you guessed it - the Mountain Men have arrived. This is where we're going to start mashing up the plots of S1 and S2, and maybe even throw a little bit of the (good) parts of S3 into the mix! But that remains to be seen. As usual, let us know what you thought in the comments and/or on tumblr @n1ghtwr1ter and @raedmagdon!
> 
> [](http://s558.photobucket.com/user/calfaolan/media/green78%20-%20twon%20cover_zpskkb485uj.jpg.html)  
> 

Seconds after the thunderous boom, Lexa was up and out of her chair. Furniture shook, and the walls of the tent swayed with the aftershocks of the explosion. Instinctively, she threw herself around Clarke, wrapping the omega in her arms and trying to shield her. " _Onya,"_ she shouted, looking back over her shoulder in search of her friend. She saw her former mentor crouched a few yards away, already reaching for her sword. _"Gyon yu op en ai raun chit don kom au._ "

Anya left the tent immediately, calling to their warriors. Clarke made as if to follow, but Lexa grasped her wrist, pulling her back before she could join them. "No. We need to leave, _now_. Is there another way out of your camp?"

Clarke shook her head. "Just the front entrance, but we can't leave. Our friends are out there!"

"It doesn’t matter. If this is the _Maunon,_ we can't afford to stay. We're no good to our people if they take us too."

A look of anger crossed Clarke's face, but Lexa didn't give her the chance to protest. She began running for the entrance, bursting through the tent flap and into the sunlight—or what should have been sunlight. Instead, she and Clarke had sprinted into a thick red fog. Its scent was foul, unnaturally bitter, and she held her breath, narrowing her eyes to slits. She clapped one hand over her mouth and took Clarke's with the other, dragging her through the smog in search of open air.

It was a struggle to find their way out. They staggered across the compound, weaving their way around overturned tents and fallen bodies. Everyone who still remained standing was trying to fight their way clear of the red gas, but there was no escape. The compound had only one exit, and in the chaos, not many were even headed in the right direction. Lexa wasted a few more precious seconds to take stock of their position, charging for what she hoped was the front gate.

"Lexa, wait," Clarke yelled, trying to yank her arm free. "We have to stop and help. All these people—"

" _No,_ " Lexa gasped, wasting precious air to rasp a warning. "Don't breathe. That is when they take you."

To her relief, Clarke decided to listen. She stopped talking and started sprinting until they both reached the wall. When Lexa saw the gate, already open a crack, she felt a faint surge of hope. Several horses were already gathered there, whickering in fear, and Lexa grabbed the nearest set of reins, swinging up and into the saddle. The beast beneath her trembled, flanks twitching, but it seemed to settle when it realized it had a rider. Once she was certain it wouldn't buck, she offered Clarke her hand, urging her to climb on.

Clarke hesitated. Her eyes were wide with fear, and she seemed frozen with indecision. "Up," Lexa ordered, extending her arm again. "We have to go." Finally, Clarke seemed to make her choice. She scrambled onto the horse, almost slipping back to the ground in the process, and plopped awkwardly behind her. As soon as Lexa felt the omega's arms fold around her waist, she nudged the horse with her heels. The two of them galloped out through the gate, speeding off into the forest.

It wasn't until they were well clear of the compound that Lexa finally allowed herself to breathe. She took in great gulps of air, trying to blink the haze from her head. Despite her efforts, she had sucked in at least some of the gas. Her vision was swimming, and without the support of Clarke's arms behind her, she feared she wouldn't stay upright.

"What... what _was_ that?" Clarke asked in a fearful whisper. Her words sounded slurred as well, and Lexa urged her to hold on tighter.

"The _Maunon,_ " she said, struggling to put her thoughts in order. "They use the acid fog to kill us, and the red fog to take small groups of our warriors without injury."

"Lexa, I don't understand. Why do they take you? Why did they just attack our camp like that? We haven't done anything to them."

Lexa drew in a breath to answer, but was interrupted by a fit of racking coughs that felt like the air was being punched out of her lungs. She bent nearly double in the saddle, hanging over the horse’s neck as she struggled for breath, and felt the animal slow to a halt at her lack of direction. When she could finally focus on something other than trying to control her breathing, she let herself slide to the ground. If the horse felt secure enough to stop running, they were most likely clear of the worst of it…for now.

Leaning on the chestnut’s withers and taking a few more shuddering gasps, she felt Clarke slide gracelessly onto the ground. _Going to have to make certain she can ride better than that,_ she thought, before shaking her head to clear it so she could answer Clarke’s question.

“We don’t know,” she forced out. “They have been abducting our people for generations. Some are taken and return as Reapers. The rest are never seen again.”

“What the hell, Lexa?” Clarke cried raggedly. “Those are our friends back there, and we just left them to die or be turned into monsters! We have to go back!”

Clarke must not have gotten as heavy a hit of the _Maunon’s_ smoke, because when Lexa reached for her hand again, she managed to evade the grasp and broke into an unsteady jog, heading back toward the camp. Desperation seared through Lexa at the thought of seeing Clarke taken away. Surely some of the shadowy figures she’d glimpsed while trying to escape had belonged to their attackers, and she wasn’t about to let Clarke confront them, especially alone and unarmed. She took a few staggering steps in pursuit, but was brought to her knees by another fit of coughing.

When she could lift her head, she expected to see the omega disappearing into the haze of smoke that filtered dimly through the trees. But instead Clarke had stopped, half-turned toward Lexa, clearly torn between going to her people and returning. Lexa dragged in a heavy breath, feeling as though she were fighting against a heavy vice clamped around her lungs. “Clarke,” she croaked, “wait. I know they’re your people and I know you want to help them. My people are in there too—my _Fos,_ Anya, and others that I…”

Tears pricked her eyes as she remembered sending her mentor to go and assess the situation. Anya hadn’t even hesitated, had just accepted Lexa sending her to her doom. And now it was entirely likely that she’d never see the other alpha again—or if she did, Anya wouldn’t remember who she was. She would be a living nightmare, a raging beast in human form, remembering nothing of how she had raised Lexa and trained her into the alpha, the warrior, and the leader she was today. All she’d know would be the urge to rip out her former _Seken_ ’s throat. _Some Commander I am,_ she thought bitterly. _I left her to that fate. I left all of them._

She felt a warm hand on her shoulder then, and looked up to see Clarke gazing down at her, fear and worry and misery in her deep blue eyes that echoed Lexa’s own. “We’ll get them back,” she said, her voice quavering with emotion. “It’s not too late. It can’t be.”

Lexa admired the omega’s spirit, but she knew that it also came from a place of ignorance. Clarke and the _Skaikru_ had managed to face the dangers of an unknown world and had been carving out a piece of survival for themselves, but this was beyond any of their skills. Somehow, she had to make the Sky girl understand this.

Taking Clarke’s hand gently in her own, she looked up into her mate’s eyes, willing her to feel the urgency in Lexa’s words. “We _will_ get them back,” she said, as firmly as she could manage. “I swear this to you, _Klark kom Skaikru._ As I am _Heda_ of my people, and as I am your mate, we will rescue our people together. But there is nothing that the two of us can do for them right now. We’re alone and we can barely breathe or walk, let alone fight.”

“So what are we supposed to do then?” Clarke said, her voice cracking with anger and exhaustion.

“We will go to my village, Tondisi _,_ ” Lexa said, infusing her tone with as much steel as she could. “We’ll meet with its chieftain, Indra, and we will gather reinforcements. And then we will make the _Maunon_ pay for everything they’ve taken from us. _Jus drein, jus daun_.”

“What does that mean?” Clarke said, her expression wary at the ominous words.

“Blood must have blood.”

Clarke opened her mouth to respond, but a loud, urgent shout cut her off before she could speak. Lexa’s head whipped around and, with considerable effort, she rose to her feet. She drew her sword from its scabbard, swaying as she struggled to settle into a defensive stance. She doubted she was in any condition to fight after inhaling so much of the _Maunon's_ poison, but that didn't mean she wouldn't try. She had her mate's life to defend as well as her own.

"Wait," Clarke hissed beside her ear, placing a hand on her shoulder. The touch steadied her, and at the sound of the omega's voice, she lowered her sword. Clarke didn't seem to be frightened. "Just listen. I don't think it's the _Maunon._ "

A moment later, Clarke's guess was proven right. The angry voices became clearer, and Lexa began to make out words.

"Bellamy, let me _go!_ Lincoln is still back there! I need to find him..."

"There's nothing to find," a familiar voice growled—Bellamy, Lexa assumed. "We need to keep quiet and get away from... whatever the hell that was. We'll go back and figure out what happened later, but our people were dropping like flies. Staying would have been stupid."

A sharp growl pierced the air, and Lexa's nostrils quivered. Although her nose still burned from the stench of the gas, she could pick up the distinctive scent of an angry omega underneath it. "So you're fine with leaving? I know you don't give a shit about Lincoln, but what about all our friends? Jasper and Monty and the others didn't get out! We have to help them."

"We _will_ help them," Bellamy barked, and Lexa caught his scent too, furious as well as fearful. "But first we have to help ourselves. We can't rescue anybody if that red stuff gets us too."

The argument continued, but Lexa didn't get a chance to listen. Clarke grabbed her arm, hauling her off in the direction of the voices. "Come on. There's safety in numbers."

Lexa wanted to protest. In all likelihood, some of the _Maunon_ had followed Bellamy and Octavia's loud conversation straight through the forest. If they joined up with the _Skaikru_ , it could put a target on their backs. In her current condition, however, she was too weak to question Clarke's decision. She also had to admit that her mate would be better off with a second alpha around to protect her—even if that alpha was Bellamy. With a groan, she staggered toward the bickering voices, leaning on Clarke's shoulder for extra support.

A few moments later, she caught sight of three figures stumbling through the trees. They were careless and clumsy, making no effort to conceal themselves, but at the very least, they didn't seem to have anyone following their trail...

"Bellamy, Octavia! Over here!" Clarke called, waving one of her hands.

Lexa suppressed a groan. One of these days, she was going to have to teach the omega how to be less conspicuous. It was no wonder the _Skaikru_ were starving if this was how they moved within the forest. Clarke's shouting did, however, have the desired effect. Bellamy and Octavia took notice of them and started hurrying over, with another person trailing behind. As they drew closer, Lexa recognized the floppy-haired boy named Finn—the one always staring at Clarke and intruding in her mate’s personal space. Her brow wrinkled with annoyance.

 _Of course he would be spared while Anya wasn't. Why couldn't they at least have rescued Reivon?_ _She might haven proven herself useful in getting our people back..._ But she wasn't prepared to give up on Anya and the others yet. So far, she and her coalition hadn't found any way to breach _Maun-de's_ defenses and defeat the _Maunon,_ but that was before _Skaikru_ had landed in her territory. With their _tek_ , new options might be available to them.

"Bellamy," Clarke said, slipping out from beneath Lexa's arm and running toward him. She pulled him into a hug, and Lexa tried not to bristle. Fortunately, it didn't last long. "Octavia, Finn... I'm so glad you made it out. Where are the others?"

"Back there," Octavia said, still seething. "Bellamy dragged me out of there before I could do anything."

"It's a good thing I did, or you'd be passed out too," Bellamy said. "Commander, what hit us? How did you escape?"

"The Mountain Men," Lexa sighed. She was growing tired of explaining, and her body ached with exhaustion. "I was just telling _Klark._ They use the red fog to steal our people. Most disappear forever. Those that return, return as monsters. Before this attack happened, I was hoping _Skaikru_ would be able to help us breach the mountain's defenses once and for all. Your _tek_ might accomplish what we have failed to do."

"So this alliance was all a sham?" Bellamy snarled, eyes flashing. "These people attacked us because of you! Our friends are still back there!"

" _Maun-de_ would have attacked regardless of our alliance," Lexa said, her anger own anger flaring. "They take everyone, and we do not know why. They would have been a threat to you soon. At least this way, you have allies. When you go to the Mountain to rescue your friends, you will have my army at your back."

That seemed to brighten Octavia's spirits. "An army? That's more like it. I'm with you, Commander. If there's a way to get Lincoln and the others back, I want to help."

Lexa considered the _Skaikru_ omega’s eager words. “It will not be easy,” she said at last, her speech made slow and measured by intent but also by the difficulty of drawing breath. “I can call upon the armies of the Twelve Clans to aid us— _Trikru_ are not the only ones who have lost brothers and sisters, _houmon_ and _yongon,_ to the Mountain Men. But if it were a simple matter to break into the Mountain, we would have done it generations ago. We will need to come up with a definitive plan if we want the support of the Coalition. Something that has not been tried before.”

The _Skaikru_ quieted, their moods growing somber as Lexa’s words sank in. Although she had gained a greater appreciation of the Sky people since meeting Clarke, she couldn’t help but sigh internally at their naïveté. Did they really think that they could simply land on an Earth that they had never experienced and right all of its wrongs with youthful enthusiasm and pluck? She shook her head to clear away her bad mood. _Skaikru_ had _tek_ and knowledge that her people had never possessed, and with her Coalition united, she could bring the greatest army her people had ever fielded to bear against the Mountain. It was entirely possible that this combination would enable them to finally crack its impenetrable defenses. She could only hope that they would be able to do so before it was too late to bring their people anything more than justice.

Lexa took a deep, shuddering drag of air and felt that the vise around her chest had loosened. Heartened, she straightened up to her full height. Aware of eyes on her, she turned to meet Clarke’s gaze. “We should go,” she said, her words for the entire group but the reassurance in her eyes only for Clarke. “The _Maunon_ will still be patrolling these woods to try and pick up stragglers. We should head for our closest village, Tondisi. We can begin gathering reinforcements and planning our next move.”

Too dejected to argue, the _Skaikru_ fell in line behind Clarke. What Lexa hadn’t said, of course, was that they would be safe in Indra’s village; she was not looking forward to the prospect of bringing four _Skaikru_ into the heart of her people’s territory. But they had no choice. It was either that, or let the _Maunon_ take them. Doing her best to project confidence that she didn’t feel, she squared her shoulders and prepared to lead them on the journey to Tondisi.

* * *

Raven woke up in darkness so complete she wasn’t entirely certain that she’d opened her eyes at all. She was leaning against a rough wall of some kind, and her head hurt like nothing else. When she reached up to rub at her temples, her wrists clinked with chains.

 _What the fuck happened?_ She thought back as far as she could. The last moment she remembered clearly was Clarke and the Grounder Commander preparing to get into it with Chancellor Jaha. She’d been trying to decide whether it was worth it to stay in the tent and weather the storm of pheromones that was sure to start when there had been a really, _really_ big boom—a boom she could appreciate, that would have made her envious, in fact, if it hadn’t resulted in her being…here. Wherever here was.

Her next few memories were brief, fractured flashes, but maybe she could put them together in some order that made sense. _Okay, Reyes, think. Use that big brain of yours._ She remembered the Commander speaking rapidly in the Grounders’ language, and Anya had bolted up and out of the tent and directly into the red fog. There had been more explosions, and then the zip of bullets—or maybe not bullets. Darts? Her thigh was sore, and when she went to rub it, she realized that she couldn’t have been hit by a bullet. She’d be screaming in pain, not grimacing with what felt like a muscle cramp if she had.

Eventually the red gas had seeped into the tent, and Raven had started to cough and choke on it, so she’d stumbled outside as well. Everything went vague and fuzzy after that, but she remembered the screams of her friends and the war cries of the Grounders who’d come with the Commander’s forces. She’d tried to run, to make it out of the compound, but then she’d felt something stinging her thigh and all of a sudden her arms and legs didn’t work anymore. Oddly, she also recalled strange, raspy breathing, like someone in a spacesuit. She focused on the sound, and after a moment it resolved itself into the last image she could remember before she’d fallen unconscious: a face in a strange, hooded mask.

The sound of shuffling and groaning jerked her from her thoughts. She blinked, trying to focus her swimming vision. The darkness made it difficult to see, but she thought she could make out moving shapes in the shadows. With some effort, she got a clearer picture. She was in some kind of tunnel, underground at the very least, and she was far from alone. Several other bodies were splayed beside hers, some moving, some not.

She turned left, focusing on the nearest one, and stifled a gasp of relief. Monty was lying on the tunnel floor beside her, also bound in chains, and he appeared to be conscious. She opened her mouth to speak, bursting with questions, but he gave her a subtle shake of his head. His wide, terrified eyes darted in the other direction, and Raven snuck a glance at where he was looking.

 _Oh, shit._ Not only were they prisoners, but the creepy people in masks were back. They wore full body suits, although to protect them from what, Raven wasn't sure. _Disease? Do they think we're going to infect them with something? Whoever they are, I bet that's why the used the gas and the knockout darts. They were afraid to get close to us._ Luckily, their captors seemed to be some distance away. They were several yards off, working their way down what appeared to be a line.

 _How many of us did they get?_ She gazed as far as she could, but she couldn't make out a number. She saw enough, however, to determine that several of her fellow prisoners were unfamiliar. _So, they took some of Lexa's warriors, too._ Immediately, she thought of Anya. She thought she'd caught a glimpse of her new friend somewhere in the middle of the chaos, but she hadn't seen the alpha's fate before she had succumbed to the gas herself.

She didn't have to wonder long. The prisoner on her other side moved, and she recognized Anya's long hair and fur-lined leather armor immediately. Raven felt a wave of relief break over her. She hadn't realized just how worried she was for Anya's safety. She shifted closer, reaching out with her limited range of motion to touch the Grounder's thigh. "Anya," she whispered, keeping her voice as low as possible. "Are you awake? Where are we? Who are they—"

Anya shook her head, silencing her with a look even more fearful than Monty's. Although she didn't say so, Raven could tell that the alpha knew exactly where they were and who had captured them. _Judging from her face, we're in deep shit. I've never seen her afraid of anything._

Since no one seemed inclined to tell her anything, she turned back to their captors, trying to find out more. For the first time, she noticed that not all of them were wearing the strange space suits. Some of them were dressed in ragged furs instead. They stunk of sour, angry alpha, only _worse_ somehow, and their movements were strange, almost predatory. They prowled up and down the tunnel, growling around bared teeth. Occasionally, one of the figures in suits would point. When that happened, an unfortunate prisoner was grabbed and taken away into the darkness.

Gradually, Raven began to notice a pattern. Every time their captors reached one of the Delinquent alphas, they were yanked away from the rest of the group and injected with a huge syringe that held a viscous red liquid, just one shade lighter than blood. _They're separating us,_ she realized with growing panic. _Whatever they want with our alphas, it can't be good._ She glanced once more toward Anya, who looked as frightened as she felt. _Oh God, Anya. They're going to take her too! Unless..._

She thought quickly. _How are they even telling us apart? Most of us are betas, and all of the Grounders are, except Anya. Could it be by smell? Our clothes?_ Either way, she needed some way to make Anya seem like a less appealing target. She glanced down at her lower half, and inspiration struck. Her pants were ragged and torn, probably from the earlier struggle, but the jacket knotted around her waist by the sleeves was in one piece. She hurried to untie it, hoping the rattling of her chains wouldn't make too much noise.

"Here," she hissed, kicking the jacket over in Anya's direction. "Put this on."

For once, Anya didn't try to silence her. With a look of surprised gratitude, the alpha took it, trying to shove her arms into the sleeves without drawing the attention of the guards or the strange people in suits.

When she’d managed to wrestle herself into the coat, Anya looked back at Raven, an urgent question in her eyes. The mechanic surveyed her with a critical gaze. While her sweaty jacket might fool their captors’ noses, Anya still didn’t quite look the part. The way she held her head, her willingness to meet people’s eyes and hold them, the way she carried herself… _Still way too alpha._ If she was going to prevent Anya from being taken away with the rest, Raven was going to have to give her a crash course in beta behavior—and fast.

“They’re taking the alphas,” she hissed under her breath, keeping her eyes on the ground so as not to attract their kidnappers’ attention. “My smell will hide you, but only if you can act like a beta.”

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Anya nod. “And how am I to do that?”

“Meet their eyes, but don’t hold them,” Raven muttered, darting quick glances at the guards as they made slow but steady progress down the line. “Keep your body loose and don’t throw your shoulders back so much. And lower your chin.”

She had to admit, the alpha was a quick study. Within moments of receiving her advice, Anya had followed it and was looking like a passable beta. Raven leaned in just a little bit closer and took a sniff. If she hadn’t been somewhat familiar with the alpha’s scent before now, she wouldn’t have noticed it under her own. _And why are you so familiar with how she smells?_ a salty little voice in Raven’s head demanded, but she ignored it.

“Looks good,” she muttered to the Grounder, and was rewarded with a very brief quirk of her lips. “Now you just have to fool _them_ ”

“ _Shof op,”_ someone else hissed, further down the line. “They’re coming!”

Their captors had arrived within earshot. Now that they were closer, Raven could hear the strange hissing of oxygen through their suits as they breathed in and out, and could discern an odd metallic scent. She heard the gurgling of their voices as they conferred with one another, lifting the chin of one person and staring into their eyes. When the boy bared his teeth and snarled after a moment of scrutiny, he was cuffed over the head, injected with the syringe, and then dragged out of line. Raven strained to see where they were taking him, but all she could make out was the vague outline of a door before it faded into darkness. Then it was Anya’s turn.

“Remember,” she whispered urgently, “don’t—”

A guard that she hadn’t seen coming up from the other end dealt her a blow with the butt of his rifle, and for a moment her vision went white. By the time she could see again, and the ringing in her ears had faded, the Grounder’s inspection was over. She didn’t have a chance to try and figure out whether Anya had passed—the person in the oxygen suit and the guards accompanying them had moved on to her. Her chin was lifted with a rubber-gloved hand, and suddenly she was looking up at the dark glass plates of the face mask. If her theory was right—if they were wearing these suits to protect them from some environmental hazard that apparently didn’t affect the Delinquents or the Grounders—it would be beyond easy to crack those plates with a well-placed elbow…if she wasn’t wearing handcuffs.

But she’d have to explore that possibility later; for now, she just needed to be a good beta and avoid confrontation. Averting her eyes, she let out a breath, shrinking herself down just a little bit to show that she didn’t intend to present a threat. She heard a low crackle of static from beneath one of the masks just before the unintelligible rumble of voices, and then her chin was released. She managed to conceal her excitement until they’d made their way three people past her down the line. Only when she was certain they were out of earshot did she turn to Anya and reveal the grin that was tugging at her lips.

The Grounder frowned at her, looking exhausted and wary. “What could you possibly have to smile about at a time like this?”

Raven’s grin just grew wider. “I just found out that they have radios. And if I can get one of them, I can make it sing.”

Anya’s eyes narrowed in confusion. “Make it…sing? How will that help our situation?”

Raven rolled her eyes. “Because that means I can get in contact with our people, and we can start planning our way out of here.”

Anya’s eyes grew dull. “No one escapes _Maun-de._ Never, in all of our remembered history…it cannot be done.”

The mechanic gave her a look replete with all the confidence she could muster. “Yeah, well the Mountain Men have never met me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Trigedasleng:**
> 
> _Gyon yu op en ai raun chit don kom au:_ Go out and see what happened.  
>  _Maunon:_ Mountain Men  
>  _Maun-de:_ Mount Weather  
>  _tek:_ technology  
>  _houmon:_ spouses  
>  _yongon:_ children


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey Kru! We know it's been a minute, but we hope you enjoy this chapter. Also, we've got sex scenes coming up (yes, you read that right - _scenes_ ), so we're looking for suggestions! We know you're all thirsty and we know you have plenty of dirty ideas, so lay em on us. ;P And as always, let us know what you think in the comments and on tumblr @n1ghtwr1ter and @raedmagdon!
> 
> [](http://s558.photobucket.com/user/calfaolan/media/green78%20-%20twon%20cover_zpskkb485uj.jpg.html)  
> 

"Listen carefully," Lexa said, gazing down at the small group of _Skaikru_ walking alongside her horse. They had all taken turns walking and riding on the journey, in part to take breaks, and in part so that Lexa could teach them a bit about how to ride, but she had explained that it would not do for _Heda_ to be seen walking into the village while another rode. There had been some grumbling, but they were bone-tired from the day-long march to Tondisi.

She spoke in the same firm, authoritative voice she most often used with her novitiates, one that did not invite argument. "When we enter the village, you must do everything I tell you, exactly as I say it, without any hesitation. Indra will obey my orders even if she does not like them, but the arrival of your people has put my strength as _Heda_ into question. The _Maunon's_ attack on your camp has only made a volatile situation worse."

"Why would an attack from these _Maunon_ put your leadership into question?" Bellamy asked. His face had acquired several new smudges of dirt sometime during their escape, and sweat covered his skin. He was starting to stink of alpha, a scent that would have irritated Lexa's nose if she hadn't had so many other important things to worry about.

With a sigh, Lexa decided to explain. She needed Bellamy pliant for their entrance into _Tondisi_ to go as smoothly as possible, and although the effects of the red fog had worn off, she was too tired to argue with him. "Look at it from the perspective of my people. I left our village with a score of well-loved and well-respected warriors. All of them have been taken by _Maun-de._ Who is to blame for this?"

"Obviously the people who attacked us," Clarke said from over her shoulder. "Your people wouldn't blame you for what happened, would they?"

Under other circumstances, Lexa might have enjoyed the feel of the omega's body pressed up against hers from behind, but in their current situation, she was too anxious to appreciate it. Still, she gave the arm wrapped around her midsection a brief squeeze. "Perhaps they will not blame me, at least not right away. But they might blame _Skaikru._ 'Those were some of our best warriors,' they will say. 'Our brothers and sisters. And who did they lose their lives defending? Outsiders.' To many of them, the price might seem too steep."

"But they aren't dead yet," Octavia insisted. She had spent most of the trek in brooding silence, her face a mask of determination. "We aren't just going to give up on them, are we? You promised us an army, Commander."

"And an army you will have," Lexa said. She felt a surge of sympathy for the omega, one that hit closer to home than she expected. She knew how it felt to lose a mate all too well. _Costia... and Clarke. We have only known each other a short time, but if the_ Maunon _had taken her..._ She shook that thought away. Thinking about her dead mate was bad enough. Considering the possibility that Clarke had come close to meeting the same fate was too much. "I know how it is to be parted from the one you love, _Okteivia,_ but I can only help you if my warriors are behind me. I must have their complete loyalty and obedience... as well as yours."

After a moment, Octavia nodded. She returned to her silence, stalking along beside Bellamy at a rapid pace. "So, how are you going to convince everyone to go along with you?" Finn asked, trotting to catch up. Although he hadn't spent the entire journey sulking, he clearly shared some of Octavia's worry.

"With my words if I am lucky," Lexa said. "With my sword if I am not. Either way, you will have your army. I'm more concerned about coming up with a plan. _Maun-de_ has remained an impenetrable fortress for generations. Other Commanders have tried to breach it and rescue our people, but none have succeeded. They have _tek_ that we do not understand, and they can wipe out hundreds of our warriors without losing a single person... and that isn't even counting those of our own people whom they have turned against us."

"Then we're going to need technology too," Clarke said. "Once we get to Tondisi, we should send a scouting party back to the dropship. I know it's dangerous, but that radio was our only way of contacting the Ark. Without it and the other weapons we left there, we're just as helpless as you."

"A good idea," Lexa said, "but you are not as helpless as you think, _Klark_. You have knowledge. Do not discount it so quickly."

Apparently, it was the right thing to say. Lexa could feel a grin on Clarke’s lips when they pressed very briefly against the skin of her neck. She felt a shudder run through her entire body at the brief contact, and closed her eyes momentarily to center herself. _You_ must _focus. You need to be at your most authoritative, and persuasive. You may command their bodies, but now you need to win their hearts._

These were words that Anya might have said, but her mentor was not there to say them to her. Lexa’s heart sank at the thought, but as soon as she’d begun to sag under the weight of it, she felt Clarke’s arms around her give a slight squeeze. The gesture sent warmth flooding through her leaden limbs, and she arrived at the gates of Tondisi with her head held high.

“ _Chit gyon au?”_ came the challenge from the gate guard.

“ _Yu Heda,”_ Lexa replied in ringing tones. There was a brief exclamation of surprise, the sound of a scuffle, and then several heads popped up over the gatehouse. Upon seeing her, the guards’ eyes went wide, and then began a flurry of movement and shouted orders to open the gate and call for Indra. By the time the weathered, battle-scarred doors creaked open, a crowd had gathered. When they caught sight of her, they began to call out, “ _Heda! Mounin houm!”_

Lexa urged her horse forward, scanning the faces turned up to hers. They seemed happy to see her, but she detected anxiety behind their smiles and eager greetings. Soon she had to look away; it was too painful to continually see the hope fall from their faces as they took in the few oddly-dressed stragglers who followed her. By the time she’d reached the village center, the voices welcoming her and shouting her name had all but faded; the mood of the crowd had gone gloomy and was steadily progressing toward ugly.

 _Speaking of ugly…_ A large, scarred bear of a man planted himself in her path, arms crossed over his chest. Lexa drew her horse to a stop, narrowing her eyes at Quint, but he just returned her gaze brazenly. Raising her hand for the _Skaikru_ to halt, she dismounted, doing her best not to let the stiffness and exhaustion she felt in her limbs show in her gait and bearing. Turning to offer Clarke a hand off the horse, she was pleased to see that her mate was making a concerted effort to dismount as Lexa had taught her instead of the awkward, ungainly way common to most of the Sky People.

“Wait here,” she murmured to Clarke, and then turned back to regard Quint. As she approached, she had to stop her nose from wrinkling. He fairly stank of alpha—on purpose, she suspected, but that didn't prevent it from rankling.

“Quint.” Though she kept her voice low and even, it rang with alpha strength, and when she noticed him sniff, she knew he must be scenting her pheromones. While Lexa ordinarily preferred to bring others over to her side through wise words and persuasive argument, she knew that with Quint, the only option was to fight fire with fire. It had worked in the past—he’d been forced to submit, to acknowledge that she was the stronger alpha—but to her fury, he did not back down. Instead, his lip curled in a snarl.

“ _Haucom yu lid disha Skaikru in oso stegeda?”_ he said, in a tone just short of outright disrespect. Lexa tried not to let herself blanch. “ _Weron ste osir kru?”_

“ _Skaikru_ are here as our allies,” Lexa said in a clear, ringing tone, as free of anger as she could make it; it was still possible that a fight could be avoided. “Their camp was attacked by the _Maunon_. We were the only ones who escaped.”

Gasps and low exclamations rippled through the crowd. Lexa attempted to ignore them, keeping her focus on Quint and increasing the exertion of her will. The other alpha’s eyes narrowed, and a growl rumbled from his chest. “ _Ripa no ste mounin hir.”_

Lexa couldn't help her own lip from curling as she stepped closer, crowding the warrior with a cloud of her pheromones. When she spoke, it was in a sharp bite. “ _Sef. Of.”_

Quint’s eyes shone with the thrill of battle, and Lexa knew in that moment that he was going to refuse, was going to force a challenge. She subtly widened her stance and let her hand curl around the hilt of her sword, loosening it in its sheath. Her alpha was practically slavering with the urge to strike him down where he stood, but Lexa herself was less certain of her chances of victory. Ordinarily she was confident she would make short work of him—his bulk would slow him down, and his strength would come to nothing if he couldn't even hit her—but she was exhausted and heartsick and still coughing occasionally with the burning remnants of the red fog. If it came to a fight, it would be quick and dirty, and she _had_ to win. If she fell, she knew that Clarke would never make it out of Tondisi alive.

“Quint, _chil yu daun!”_

Indra’s voice rang out across the village square, and both Lexa and Quint turned to see the chieftain striding toward them, several of her warriors jogging to catch up. There was a furious light in her eyes, but Lexa’s spirits rose a little. Indra was hard, but fair. She would not let Quint challenge her without hearing the full story. _And hopefully not before letting us eat and sleep, at least for a little while._

Reluctantly, Quint lowered his shoulders, skulking back to rejoin the rest of the crowd. His face was still twisted up in anger and disgust, but even he knew it would be foolish to offer challenge to Indra and all her warriors as well as _Heda._ Lexa continued holding his gaze long after he had backed down, just to make sure he didn't change his mind. Only when Indra arrived at the gates did she tear her eyes away from him.

"Indra," she said, addressing the Chieftain in a strict, businesslike tone. "We come from the _Skaikru_ camp. The _Maunon_ attacked us in the middle of our negotiations and took our warriors back to the Mountain."

Indra's harsh expression turned to one of somber understanding, and Lexa felt a stab of guilt. The band of beta warriors who had volunteered to protect her at the negotiations were mostly residents of Tondisi. They were Indra's people, and thanks to her, _Maun-de_ had claimed their lives. "None made it out with you, _Heda?"_ she asked, looking around hopefully.

Lexa shook her head. "None, Indra. They used the red fog." Fearful murmurs swept through the crowd, and Lexa saw a vicious smile tilt up the corners of Quint's lips. She knew she had to say something to allay the fears of her people, before they turned on her as he had been urging. "But this time, we will not give up. Our alliance with _Skaikru_ was made for a reason." She gestured at Clarke and the others. "They have _tek,_ and they have knowledge that will help us bring our warriors home."

"Is that why you saved them?" Quint growled, still glaring at her with narrowed eyes. "Why did you pick _them_ over our own people? Is your alliance more precious than our own blood?"

" _Em pleni,_ " Lexa snarled, rounding on him again. She knew she couldn't afford to let him interrupt a second time, especially since his statement had caused several murmurs of agreement to ripple through the onlookers. "I did not _pick_ anyone. These _Skaikru_ saved themselves, with their own resourcefulness. I came upon them in the forest. Would you have left them there when they could be of use to us here?"

For that, Quint had no response. He returned to his sulking, lips pressed together in a tight line.

She turned to the crowd, addressing them again. "But even if I had been forced to choose, I would have saved _Klark_ and her companions—not because she is my mate, but because they are the only ones who can save our people. For generations, we have tried to bring the Mountain down, and for generations, we have failed. But this time, we have a chance to end this, to avenge all the warriors, all the _houmon_ and _yongon,_ that the _Maunon_ have stolen from us. _Jus drein jus daun._ Don't you want the blood our people are owed?"

To her relief, no one asked whether she had a solid plan. Instead, the crowd seemed to light to her fire. They repeated her words, a murmur at first, gradually rising to a chant. _'Jus drein jus daun'_ echoed around the walls of the village, until the air was ringing with it. Quint's look turned even more sour, but Indra dipped her head slightly in both respect and approval. Lexa kept her own high, looking as proud and determined as she could in her weakened state. Her people needed to believe that she could do this, or they would turn on her in an instant.

Once the shouting had gone on long enough, she raised her hand for silence. Immediately, everyone stopped. "Indra," she said, turning toward the chieftain once more. "Make sure _Okteivia, Belomi,_ and _Finn_ are looked over by a healer and fed. In the meantime, gather any scouts you can spare and prepare them to leave at first light. They will return to the _Skaikru_ encampment to search for survivors." _As well as that radio. But it's probably best not to mention that yet._

Indra looked at her with mild suspicion, as if she could guess that she wasn't receiving the full story, but nodded. " _Sha, Heda."_

"If you're sending people back, I want to go too," Octavia said, speaking out of turn and with a great deal of urgency. There were several mutters at her interruption, but Lexa took it in stride.

"So you will, _Okteivia._ " She gave the omega a look, one she hoped the girl would interpret correctly. At least one member of _Skaikru_ needed to return with her warriors in order to retrieve as much _tek_ from the dropship as possible, and she wasn't sure how she felt about sending Clarke. _Perhaps Finn or_ Belomi _can go with her. I see no reason to keep them here, where their very presence might anger Quint._

"Forgive me, _Heda,_ " Indra said, "but there is another matter that requires your attention."

"How urgent?" she asked. Normally, she wouldn't have hesitated to investigate whatever Indra had in mind, but the fog and the long journey to _Tondisi_ had left her unsteady on her feet. She needed rest, or her people would see how weak she truly was. But Indra’s tone, and the dark look on her general’s face, left no room for question.

“It is _very_ urgent, Commander,” the other alpha said in a low voice. “It concerns our alliance with _Skaikru,_ and may be a matter of life and death.”

Lexa suppressed a sigh, and then nodded. “Very well. What is it?”

Instead of answering, Indra began to walk quickly out of the square, gesturing for Lexa to follow. After a moment of consideration, the Commander turned to the _Skaikru_ shifting nervously behind her. “Come,” she said in an undertone. “It’s not safe for you to be here without me.”

“No arguments here,” Bellamy said, in a tone that suggested he would very much like to argue, but Octavia dug an elbow into his side. He followed Lexa into the dimness of Tondisi’s main hall without further comment.

Tondisi was not a large or grand village, especially to someone who had grown up in the storied halls of Polis tower, but the meeting hall had its own shabby majesty. The chandeliers that seemed to float in the gloom, the vast trestle tables that could seat the entire population, and the thick stone walls that could repel an invading army—and had, from the battle scars and that pocked the damp surface. Lexa watched the _Skaikru_ take all of this in with a hidden smirk, pleased to see their mouths dropping open. _Now you see that the sky is not the only place that contains wonders. The ground has its marvels too._

She was momentarily lost to a very pleasant reverie about how Clarke would respond when she got the chance to show her the capitol city, and was only roused by Indra clearing her throat. She offered Lexa the chair at the head of the high table – traditionally her own chair, but as Lexa was of higher rank, it belonged to her. The alpha sank into it gratefully. After long hours in the saddle, and even longer ones on her feet, even its minimal cushioning felt excellent. The _Skaikru_ all moved to take seats as well, but Indra let out a low growl—none must sit until the Commander bade them. Lexa waved her hand carelessly, letting her general know that they need not stand on ceremony—but then, she also suspected that Indra had never stood anywhere else in her life, so perhaps that was a lost cause.

“All right,” she said on a sigh, after everyone had found a place at the bench. “Now, what is so urgent that it couldn’t wait for us to have a meal, and maybe a bath?” _Oh_ Keryon, _a bath… Clarke in the bath with me… Clarke naked and damp from the bath, hair glinting in the light of candles—_

“ _Lid honon-de in,_ ” Indra barked, startling her out of her reverie (just in time. Much longer, and she might have had a very embarrassing problem). The rusty iron gate groaned open, and a couple of guards appeared, each holding the arm of a ragged, shuffling prisoner—a beta male, from what she could smell under the stink of sweat. As he got closer, the reason for his shuffling became clear: he was bound in many chains, wrists and waist and ankles. Lexa frowned, wondering if this had been strictly necessary. Although she supposed it was understandable; the village was highly tense right now, and they were unlikely to want to take any chances.

It was hard to make out much of the boy’s features in the dimness of the hall, but Lexa could see a pale, dirt-streaked face and long, lank, unbraided hair, as well as strange clothes that suggested to her that he was of the _Maunon._ That was impossible, as he was not wearing one of their breathing suits, which meant that he had to be _Skaikru._ Lexa was about to turn to Clarke and ask if she recognized the man when her mate answered the question for her with a gasp.

“ _Murphy?”_

* * *

Clarke stared at the prisoner in shock, unable to believe her eyes. She had been surprised but wary when the guards had brought him in, but he had been so dirty that she hadn't recognized him at first. Even now, she had to do a double take to make sure she wasn't dreaming. _Or to make sure I'm not seeing a ghost. I was sure the Grounders killed him. He got caught in one of their traps... he was bleeding all over, not moving..._ He had been one of the first to succumb to their dangerous new surroundings after being banished from camp for his actions, or so she had thought. Apparently, he had survived after all.

"Murphy, what are you doing here? We thought you were dead!"

Murphy gave her a look that somehow managed to be both spiteful and haunted at the same time. He shook his head, as if her appearance before him was somehow inevitable. "Not dead," he rasped, in a hoarse voice that made Clarke wonder how much he'd been screaming recently. "But after what I've been through, I wish I was."

Clarke immediately whirled on Lexa. She felt no particular loyalty to Murphy—in fact, his behavior since the dropship crash had been nothing short of detestable—but that didn't mean she wanted to see him tortured. "You can't let your people keep him like this," she said, gesturing Murphy's hunched form. He was covered in bruises, with dried blood around one corner of his mouth, and the clothes draped around his skinny frame were more rags than anything. "It isn't humane."

"We cannot release him, Heda," Indra said, before Lexa could speak. "Our scouts found him wandering the forest, half-starved, dressed in the clothes of the _Maunon._ He admits to being _Skaikru_ , and with some persuasion, he also told us that the _Maunon_ captured him. He has been inside _Maun-de_."

Lexa's eyes widened with understanding, but Clarke's narrowed with anger. "So why didn't you feed him? Take care of those wounds? Unless you were the ones who inflicted them. If you'd come to get one of us, we might have been able to get him to talk."

"Not likely," Bellamy snorted. "Have you forgotten what he did? He tried to murder a twelve year old girl!"

Clarke rounded on him, fists clenching. He stank of alpha, but she wasn't going to let it intimidate her. "So that means we should torture him? If he does have useful information, there are other ways we can get it."

"That wasn't how you felt about Lincoln at first," Bellamy growled, stepping closer and glaring down at her. "Double standard, huh?"

Clarke began to protest that she had been trying to save Finn's life—she hadn't seen any other options—but instead, their argument was interrupted by Murphy's cold laughter. His eyes had taken on a wild look, and he was actually grinning, greasy strands of his hair swaying about his dirty face. "If you want to go into that Mountain, you're all crazier than me."

"What do you mean, Murphy?" Finn asked. He stepped forward from the rest of the group, approaching the beta cautiously. "What happened to you?"

The alpha guards holding Murphy's chains stood straighter, preparing to stop him from coming any closer, but Lexa held up her hand. "Let him speak," she said, nodding for Finn to continue. "See if you can get this prisoner to talk sense."

Murphy snorted, shaking his head. "What _didn't_ happen to me? Those bastards in the suits ran all kinds of tests. Thank God I was unconscious for half of it. Draining my blood, poking me with needles... they probably cut chunks out of me too." He held up his chained arms, showing that they were littered with puncture wounds. "Then it got worse. They used a drill..." For the first time, his face looked fearful, eyes rolling with terror as flecks of spit sprayed from his mouth. He let out a strangled whimper, and spoke no more.

Clarke gasped in horror and pity, and even Finn recoiled, but Octavia was not put off. She came forward to join Finn in front of Murphy's prone form, bristling with impatience. "What happened, Murphy? You need to tell us. There are lives at stake here."

"Hey, go easy on him," Finn said, reaching for Octavia's shoulder. "He's not all here right now—"

"I don't _care,_ " Octavia snapped. "My mate is probably in that Mountain. If Murphy can get us inside, I'm going to make sure he talks."

The beta let out a harsh bark of laughter that held very little humor. “Your _mate_ , huh? What is he, a beta? Or an alpha?”

“He's an alpha,” Octavia spat. “What the hell does that have to do with—”

“Oh god,” Murphy said, grinning like a skull. “Well, I hope you got a chance to say goodbye to him, because you might see him again, but he’s gone.”

Octavia’s nose wrinkled momentarily in confusion before she let out a snarl and lunged forward, seizing the lapels of Murphy’s tattered jacket and shaking him roughly. “What the fuck does that mean? Stop dicking around, Murphy, I'm not having it—”

“ _Octavia_!” Clarke started forward in alarm, but Finn and Bellamy were already there, each seizing one of the enraged omega’s arms.

“Let me _go_!” she roared, flailing wildly as her brother wrestled her away from the cowering beta. “I'm gonna beat his stupid lizard face until he tells us what happened to Lincoln!”

“He can't tell us anything if you kill him, Octavia,” Bellamy huffed. Octavia didn't bother to argue. She'd just devolved into noises of incoherent rage that sent shivers down Clarke’s spine. _Would this be me if it was Lexa in that place_?

Murphy sagged back into his captors’ arms, panting shallowly from Octavia’s assault. His eyes were dull and hollow as he explained, “The people in the Mountain are all betas. They have been since the bombs fell. They think that omegas and alphas are, like, unnatural. So when they bring you in, they do their best to sort everybody out. They can't usually tell who's an omega unless they're in heat, but they give everyone a shot that induces it, and then take you away if you start dripping.”

Octavia let out a snarl at the derogatory language and Clarke blanched, but her need to find out what happened to the people taken by the Mountain outweighed her anger at his sexism. “Go on,” she said tensely, shooting the other omega a look to warn her against further outbursts.

Murphy gave her a grin, clearly pleased that he’d gotten away with it, but his smirk dropped when she leveled her glare on him. With a sigh, he said, “They take the betas to this special room with cages…there's a ton of people there already, but they take out a lot of them every day. I think some of them are dead—or at least, they look dead, but I've seen a few of them move—”

“ _Murphy ,_ ” Clarke said through gritted teeth, “what happens to the people in cages?”

“Oh, _right_!” Murphy said, with false enthusiasm. “I almost forgot the best part. They took us out every day, zapped us with stun batons until we were either unconscious or just couldn't move, and then they chained us upside down by our ankles from the ceiling, stuck us full of tubes, and drained our blood until we passed out. Then the next day they gave us just enough food to keep us alive and did it all over again.”

Clarke felt sick. She didn't like Murphy, but the thought of him hanging from the ceiling, being used as a human blood bag, made her gorge rise. She would have said he was feeding them a line of bullshit to get them to pity him, or even just to annoy them, if not for the fact that the truth was written on his body. His sallow skin, his sunken eyes, his wasted, emaciated body—everything about him said he was telling the truth. Tasting bile on her tongue, Clarke said shakily, “Why did they take the blood?”

Murphy turned his pale eyes on her. “Did you ever read _Dracula_ back on the Ark, princess?”

Clarke ignored the mocking nickname. “Yeah. It was about vampires, right?” Murphy nodded, and Clarke felt a chill run through her. “What are you saying?”

“They need it to survive,” the beta said, and for the first time his voice was entirely free of mockery. “Whatever allows us to survive the radiation down here…the Mountain Men don't have it. So they've been living off the blood of the Outsiders—that’s you,” he said, nodding to Lexa, who let out a low rumble, “for generations. Until now.”

Clarke’s brow furrowed in confusion. “What do you mean, for now? What's changed?”

Murphy let out a quiet sigh, looking abruptly tired and defeated. “Us.” Clarke’s blood ran cold at the word. All of a sudden she couldn't help envisioning everyone—all of the Delinquents, all of her friends chained to the ceiling, their blood being slowly leeched from their bodies—but Murphy was shaking his head. “When they started draining me, they realized that something about my blood was different. It worked…I don't know, better than the rest. But I was only one person. So they ran tests to see how they could get the most use out of me, and they started looking to see if they could find the rest of you.”

“And how did they know there were more of us, huh?” Bellamy said, a muscle jumping in his jaw. Clarke could smell anguish rising from him in a sour cloud. “What did you tell them?”

To Clarke’s surprise, Murphy whirled on him savagely. Apparently there was some fight left in him. “I told them everything, okay? They tortured me for fucking _hours_ , and I spilled my guts. And you know what, Bellamy? You would've done the exact same thing.”

“Like hell I would,” Bellamy snarled, starting forward, but Lexa’s voice cracked out like a whip, holding him in place.

“What do they intend to do with the rest of the _Skaikru_?”

Murphy gave Lexa an evaluating look, as though trying to decide whether he could get away with needling her or not. In the end, he seemed to come to the conclusion that he should tell the truth. "They're going to harvest us," he said, the shadow of fear creeping back over his face to replace his rage. In fact, primal terror seemed to be the only thing driving the near-corpse he had become. "Once they figured out what my blood could do, they started taking other samples. They said my bone marrow might be a 'permanent solution'."

"So why did they let you go?" Clarke asked, although she feared she already knew the answer. There was no way Murphy could have escaped _Maun-de_ , especially in his current state. That meant only one thing

Murphy laughed, high and hollow. "Can't you guess, princess? I barely know one direction from another in the fucking forest. I couldn't tell them where the dropship was, so they decided the best way to find it was to set me loose and follow me." He turned toward Lexa. "That's when your people found me. I'd thank you, but..." He raised his hands, causing his chains to rattle and showing more of his blood-caked bruises. "You know. These."

"You mean you led them straight to the dropship?" Octavia snapped, her eyes flashing with renewed fury. "Then this is all your fault! You _traitor—_ "

"Don't think you wouldn't have done the same thing," Murphy said with a shake of his head, still chuckling. "But if they attacked you, I can't take credit. I never found the fucking place. They must have gotten lucky."

"Tell me what happens to the alphas they take, Murphy," Octavia growled, dangerous and low. "What do they do to them?"

Murphy grinned, as if he was taking pleasure in the reveal. He turned toward Lexa, leering at her with all his teeth exposed. "You already know, don't you? You know all about how they turn the alphas like you into monsters... how they torture them, feed them with these vials of red... and how those alphas go out to bring them more prisoners." When Lexa didn't respond, he leaned toward Octavia again, his tone almost mocking. "The next time you see your mate, he won't even know you."

Octavia lunged, but luckily, Bellamy was faster. He dragged her back, glancing at Lexa as she thrashed in his arms. "I'm getting her out of here. She's mate-sick. The separation is getting to her."

Lexa nodded, firing off several commands in her own language. Some of the guards who weren't holding Murphy came forward, and she gestured for Bellamy and Octavia to follow them. "Go," she said, pointing toward the door. "You too, Finn. Indra will take the three of you to see a healer and rest. There is nothing more to be done here tonight."

"What about Murphy?" Finn asked. He gazed at the other beta with an expression of pitiable concern. "You aren't just going to leave him like that, are you?"

"He will remain a prisoner," Lexa said, "for his own safety as much as any other reason, but he will be fed and cleaned. Perhaps in the morning, he will talk more sense. His knowledge of the Mountain could be of great use to us."

Murphy opened his mouth, probably to say something condescending, but one of the alphas cuffed lightly at the back of his head, cutting off whatever he might have said. They dragged him away, and Clarke watched until he disappeared from sight. As her friends made to follow with their own escorts, Finn paused beside her, reaching out to squeeze her arm. "Stay safe, okay? I'll see you soon."

For once, she didn't mind his touch or his concern. After everything the four of them had been through together, she was simply glad that her friend was alive, no matter his unresolved feelings toward her. "You too," she whispered. Once more, she watched until the three of them had followed Indra from the room before turning back to Lexa. She forced herself to measure her steps as she made her way back to where her mate was seated, not comfortable admitting to herself just how much the raw pain etched into Octavia’s face made her crave the reassurance of Lexa’s presence. _That could have been me. If they had taken Lexa instead of Lincoln, I might have been the crazy one..._ Being apart from Lexa for the few days between their mating and the negotiations had been bad enough. She couldn't even imagine how Octavia was feeling.

As soon as the iron door clanked shut, leaving them alone, Lexa sighed, slumping down in the chair and rubbing at her temples. Up close, Clarke could see just how tired she was, the shadows of the hall making her high cheekbones and proud jawline stand out even more starkly than usual. Hesitantly, she rested a hand on the alpha’s shoulder, and felt a sudden wave of warmth and comfort wash through her. She hoped that Lexa could feel it too.

Apparently she could, because when she looked up at Clarke, it was with a weary smile. She opened her legs a bit wider and beckoned Clarke in between them, fingertips on her waist to draw her closer. Then, when she was near enough that Clarke’s head spun with her scent, Lexa wrapped her arms around the omega’s waist and rested her head against Clarke’s chest.

While she was nonplussed for a moment, unsure of what to do, her instincts to comfort her mate kicked in and she slung one arm around Lexa’s shoulder, pulling her closer, while stroking her hair with the other hand. This was a lot of closeness for two people who hadn't even known each other a month ago, Clarke reflected as she stood there, gently tracing Lexa’s braids and letting her mate take comfort in the steady rhythm of her breaths. How had she gone from not knowing Lexa even existed to being terrified at the very thought of losing her?

The terror grew inside of her, filling up her lungs like a scream that she couldn’t let out for fear of breaking apart with the force of it, and she found herself crushing Lexa tighter and tighter to her chest. The alpha allowed it for a while, but eventually she heard Lexa's voice, muffled by her breasts. “Much as I appreciate the landscape, Clarke, you are squishing me.”

“Sorry,” Clarke said, letting go of her abruptly and making to move away, give Lexa some space, but the alpha's arms stayed wrapped around her waist, holding her in place.

“Stay,” she whispered, her eyes wide with a kind of vulnerability that, Clarke knew, did not come easily to her. Clarke nodded, and they simply regarded each other for a moment that was a calm in the storm their lives had become.

That calm was gone far too soon, shattered by the crash of the iron door slamming open against the wall. Clarke whipped around to see a large male alpha come charging down the steps, trailed by a furious-looking Indra who was shouting at him in Trigedasleng, as well as several warriors. But the man didn’t stop until he stood right before Lexa, who had risen as soon as he’d entered the hall and placed herself between the intruder and Clarke. While she would have ordinarily objected to this sort of alpha nonsense, the pure rage in the warrior’s eyes made her welcome Lexa’s protectiveness.

“ _Chit yu gaf in, Quint?”_ Lexa said, her voice rumbling with barely-controlled anger.

“ _Ai gaf raitnes in,”_ the other alpha spat. “ _Jus drein jus daun!”_ While Clarke didn’t understand his words, his tone was clearly disrespectful. Lexa’s eyes flashed.

“ _Hod yu rein daun,”_ she said. “ _Oso na hon raitnes in, ba oso gaf set raun gon manaplei ste radon.”_

Quint shook his head with a snarl. “ _Y_ _u ouyon oso klin yu jus-de. No Heda nou mou!”_ His words echoed through the hall, making the hair rise on the back of Clarke’s neck.

“Lexa, what is he saying?” she whispered urgently, when she could no longer stand it.

“He is challenging my fitness to be Commander,” the alpha replied through gritted teeth. Quint nodded sharply, turning his attention on Clarke.

“That’s right, Sky girl,” he rumbled, with no small amount of malevolent glee. “You won’t be so brave when your protector’s gone, will you?”

“That’s enough, Quint!” Lexa snapped, teeth bared. “Issue the challenge and let’s get on with it.”

“ _Kei, en’s ogud,”_ the other alpha sneered. “ _Yu gada throudon in.”_

“ _Heda,_ no!” Indra said, pushing forward. “We have no time for this. We must gather the armies of the other Clans and prepare to march on the Mountain!”

Lexa held up her hand, and her general subsided. “No. This challenge must be answered. This is my _Hedon,_ and you know it.” Turning back to Quint, she nodded once. “I accept your challenge. At noon tomorrow, I will prove my worthiness of the Flame, or my death will start the Conclave that will choose a successor.” Stepping forward, she swept past Quint, pausing only to say over her shoulder, “Come, Clarke. We have much to discuss, and we need to prepare for tomorrow.”

Numbly, Clarke followed. The only thought in her head, repeated over and over, was, _How am I supposed to prepare for you to die?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Trigedasleng:**
> 
> _Chit gyon au:_ Who goes there?  
>  _Mounin houm:_ Welcome home  
>  _Haucom yu lid disha Skaikru in oso stegeda? Weron ste osir kru:_ Why have you brought these Sky people to our village? Where are our people?  
>  _Ripa no ste mounin hir:_ Murderers are not welcome here.  
>  _Sef of:_ Move aside.  
>  _Chil yu daun:_ Stand down  
>  _Houmon:_ spouses  
>  _Yongon:_ children  
>  _Lid honon-de in:_ Bring in the prisoner  
>  _Chit yu gaf in:_ What do you want?  
>  _Ai gaf raitnes in:_ I want justice  
>  _Hod yu rein daun:_ Mind your place  
>  _Oso na hon raitnes in, ba oso gaf set raun gon manaplei ste radon:_ We will get justice, but we need to wait until the timing is right.  
>  _Yu ouyon osir klin yu jus-de:_ You owe us your blood  
>  _Kei, en’s ogud. Yu gada throudon in:_ Very well. You are challenged.  
>  _Hedon:_ Law


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Got a long one for you tonight, Kru! Hopefully it'll help everybody deal with the awfulness of 3x16. Just remember, no matter what happens, we're here for each other. Clexakru is eternal. Ste yuj, seingeda. As always, let us know what you thought in the comments or on tumblr @n1ghtwr1ter and @raedmagdon.
> 
> [](http://s558.photobucket.com/user/calfaolan/media/green78%20-%20twon%20cover_zpskkb485uj.jpg.html)  
> 

****Anya gritted her teeth, trying with all her might to keep her trembling body still. Her jaws ached to snap as one of the bulky-suited figures approached with a set of manacles, but she restrained herself through sheer desperation. She knew she couldn't fight back. If she did, she would be killed—or worse. As a prisoner of _Maun-de_ , death was one of the best possible outcomes for an alpha. Instead, she allowed herself to be chained, submitting to the cold embrace of steel around her wrists. Reivon _bought you time. You cannot afford to waste it._

She almost lost control as the suited _Maunon_ approached her with more metal, a collar clearly meant to go around her throat, but she forced herself to hold still. Although she shook with the effort, she averted her eyes and allowed her captor to lock it in place. _Stay still. Submit. Your fight is not yet over._

Once she was chained and the _Maunon_ had moved on to the next person in line, she allowed herself to scan her surroundings. Beside her, Raven was chained as well, but she seemed to be unharmed. Anya breathed a soft sigh of relief. It was only the beta's quick thinking that had spared her a much worse fate, and she wouldn't forget it. Her eyes flicked over to the other figures in the room—huge, hulking alphas dressed in ragged fur instead of the strange suits. They had formed an uneven line, and one by one, they dropped to their knees before a second suited figure.

 _What are they doing?_ Anya wondered, but her question was quickly answered. A second _Maunon_ approached, carrying what looked like a small _fayagon_ in their hand. It was hollow in the middle, filled with some kind of red liquid, and Anya watched in horror as the sharp end pierced the nearest _Ripa's_ vulnerable neck. The pitiable creature let out a sigh of what sounded like relief, and then sagged over, all the fight draining out of its body. One by one, the _Ripa_ were given the strange red liquid, until they were all as docile as trained dogs.

 _That is how the_ Maunon _control us,_ Anya realized, her stomach churning. _The red water must be some kind of powerful drug. They obey to get more._

She wasn't given much time to process the new knowledge. The _Maunon_ surrounded them, using their chains to drag them as a group toward the nearest door. "Where do you think they're taking us?" Raven whispered from behind her, but Anya didn't respond. They had stepped into another room, much more angular than the rocky, dripping tunnels, with proper walls, a grated floor, and a barred ceiling that let in thin slats of light through from above. It was mostly empty, although there were metal poles running the length of the walls.

"What is this?" Raven muttered again, in a low voice Anya prayed the _Maunon_ couldn't hear. "Some kind of decontamination chamber?"

Anya had no idea what the last two words meant, but she could tell what the room was for. The floor beneath them was damp, and the prisoners in front of her were already being stripped of their clothes. Instantly, she felt a stab of panic in her gut. Even unshifted, there were subtle differences between the anatomy of female alphas and female betas. Worse still, if she _did_ happen to shift thanks to the stress of the situation, she would immediately be found out. She would be taken away like the other alphas, tortured and given the red water until she was a mindless murderer...

There was nothing to be done. She would have to keep herself under control as best she could and hope that the _Maunon_ would not look too closely between her legs. When they came to strip her of her clothes, she held her breath, struggling to remain as relaxed as possible. The hands on her were rough and methodical, not the least bit arousing, but it wasn't unheard of for an alpha to sustain an erection out of aggression or fear. She stared steadfastly at her feet, holding perfectly still until her clothes had been cut away.

The _Maunon_ worked their way down the line smoothly and efficiently. If anyone took offense at their rough handling and snarled or flinched away, they were dealt with swiftly and brutally, shocked into submission with stun batons. Once they had dropped, shaking and screaming, to their knees, they were left on the chilly floor; it fell to those nearest them in line to help them back to their feet.

Before long, they were done, leaving all of them— _Trikru_ and _Skaikru_ alike—in a naked, shivering line. Now the guards stepped back, and a new group of people came forward, dressed in thick rubber suits with large clear windows over their faces. They were all holding hoses and brushes with long handles, and Anya couldn't tell what they might be for. Until, that was, harsh, icy streams of water came jetting down from the ceiling.

There was a chorus of screams as they were all instantly drenched. Anya felt herself start shivering right away, and had to fight the urge to wrap her arms around herself. It wouldn't have worked anyway; they were cuffed too tight to her ankles. Instead, she squeezed her eyes shut and tried to ignore the harsh scrape of brushes’ bristles, the low cries and sobs of the others around her. She felt like her skin was being scoured, and the water felt so cold it burned, but she did her best to shut it out, focusing on breathing. She thought it might go on forever, but then a loud buzzer sounded and the showers shut off.

After doing her best to shake her sopping hair out of her eyes, Anya realized abruptly that she had another problem. Clearing her vision had brought her attention to the shapely curve of Raven’s ass, which was directly in front of her. In fact, her hands were manacled to a chain that attached to the same one encircling the _Skayon’s_ waist, which was trimly muscular and entirely too pleasing. The alpha found all sorts of thoughts filling her head, beginning with how it might feel to lean forward and place her hands on that very same waist. Raven would turn and step into her embrace, and sling one arm around Anya’s neck to draw her down for a kiss…

Her clit gave a heavy twitch, and Anya stifled a groan, directing her gaze up, away, anywhere but at the body of the beta in front of her. Not only were these thoughts highly inappropriate to be having _right_ _now_ , about someone who was barely even an ally, but they were also far more dangerous than usual. To sustain an erection at an inappropriate time might ordinarily bring her ridicule, maybe even a slap; to do it now would be a death sentence. _Think of the least desirable thing you can imagine,_ Anya told herself desperately. _Think of…Titus mating._ She nearly gagged. That would make her vomit, and there was no time for that. _All right. Think of…that idiot_ Leksa _and her_ Skayon _!_ That should be sufficiently awkward and embarrassing to stop her problem before it could come to a head. But to her dismay, as soon as she tried to bring the awful images to mind, her brain transformed the partners, supplanting Clarke and Lexa with Raven and herself.

The shaft of her clit gave another heavy throb, one that usually heralded its extension. _This is it. Well done,_ branwada _,_ she growled at herself despairingly. _This truly must be the most humiliating death anyone will have experienced, ever._ She had just about consigned herself to her fate when a heavy metal door at the far end of the chamber opened, revealing a slender woman in a white coat, carrying a clipboard. She looked over the chained prisoners with an appraising gaze that made Anya bristle. It was as though they were cattle to this woman, brute beasts at a market, and she was deciding upon the choicest ones for slaughter.

The woman frowned, and then turned to the leader of the guards. “I told you to bring the kids from the dropship. Why are there Outsiders here?”

 _Outsiders_ , Anya scoffed, fighting to keep a snarl from escaping her chest. _You take our people and you send them back to us as monsters, and this is what you think of us?_

“I don't know,” the man said, looking worried. Despite the fact that they were both betas, it was clear that this woman held a position of some dominance. “We didn't think there would be, but there was some kind of delegation. But we got lucky. All of the warriors are normal, no Defectives.”

“You idiot,” the woman hissed, luckily for Anya—the sound of her vitriol covered the low growl she couldn't keep from escaping. Raven’s head swung around to dart her a concerned look, but then the woman was speaking with—no, shouting at—the hapless guard again. “You wasted valuable time and resources bringing them in! If the marrow treatments work, we won't need any of the Outsiders anymore.”

The other man seemed to almost shrink under the onslaught, and Anya hid her sneer in her shoulder. But the woman didn't have much time to spare on berating him, because sooner than Anya would have liked, she sighed and waved her hand dismissively. “It's fine. I suppose it won't hurt to have a fresh supply of Outsider serum, just in case we hit a roadblock developing the treatment. Get them all through processing, but take the kids to C block. Do you think you'll be able to handle something like that?” He drew himself up, spluttering with injured pride, but she didn't even wait for his answer before waving a small plastic card at a pad on the door. It hissed open to let her in, then shut with a heavy, decisive thud.

Once the door sealed shut, the room became a flurry of activity. The _Maunon_ in suits began to pick through the line again, examining bodies and unfastening chains. One by one, the _Skaikru_ were dragged to the other side of the room. None resisted, but the _Maunon_ brandished their batons anyway, prepared to strike anyone who dared to raise their eyes. Anya shot a frightened look at Raven. The beta was naked and shivering beside her, arms folded as close as her manacles allowed, and Anya bit back a growl. Letting any of their jailers lay a hand on Raven went against her every instinct.

"Keep it together," Raven muttered out of the corner of her mouth. "They aren't going to kill us yet. The way that woman was talking, they need us for some kind of experiment." She aimed a nervous glance sideways, and Anya followed her gaze. The _Maunon_ were almost upon them, sloshing across the damp floor in their strange suits. They would arrive in a matter of moments...

Anya tensed, trembling with frightened, protective rage as her lips peel back in a snarl, but Raven's hand shot down, briefly squeezing hers. "Remember, you're a beta. Try not to do anything stupid until I come and spring you."

_Come and... what?_

There was no time for her to decipher Raven's cryptic words, because the _Maunon_  had finally reached them. Anya wrenched her eyes down, forcing herself to stare at the grated floor. As the chains binding her and Raven clinked, she clenched her hands into fists, nails biting deep into her palms. There was nothing she could do, but the bottom of her stomach dropped into a lurching pit as Raven was torn away from her side and shoved across the room. To Anya's relief, she didn't resist. She shuffled over to join the others, head low.

"That's the last one," the nearest _Maunon_ said, to the man who had been berated by his superior earlier.

"Good. Get them over to C Block like Doctor Tsing said. I'll deal with the rest of the Outsiders."

One by one, the _Skaikru_ were led toward the same door that the woman had exited through, Raven last of all. Anya risked one final glance, but only caught a glimpse of the back of her head. Soon even that disappeared from sight, and her heart clenched as the door hissed shut again.

 _I hope you have some kind of plan,_ Reivon _,_ she thought, shoulders slumping in defeat. Unless a miracle occurred, her discovery was inevitable, and so was her fate—she would die in this mountain like the rest of her people, or worse: she would become a beast, a slave to the Mountain and its red water.

* * *

"Nice digs," Clarke said, trying to keep her voice casual as she stepped through the door Lexa had just opened. The room was fairly spacious, much larger than the cramped quarters she had dealt with back at the dropship, and the furniture was made of real wood instead of metal. A large bed was pressed back against the far wall, covered in plush-looking furs. The candles on the twin nightstands were already lit, casting flickering pools of light onto the floor. "So, is this where you live, or some kind of guest room?"

"Both." Lexa closed the door, passing by her side and heading straight for the bed. She perched herself on the edge, lifting one foot and beginning to tug off one of her boots. "When my presence is required in Tondisi, this is _Heda's_ room, but I do not live here. I spend most of my time in Polis."

While Lexa moved on to her other boot, Clarke chewed nervously at her lower lip. She was once again reminded how little she actually knew about her mate. _I guess since we're bonded, I'll need to ask a few questions...assuming she makes it through tomorrow without getting herself killed._ The thought made her stomach lurch, and she did her best to suppress it. Following Lexa's example, she began kicking off her own shoes and unzipping her jacket. "Polis, huh? Is that a city? Your capital or something?"

Lexa finished removing her other boot and stood once more, crossing her arms before her to strip off her outer shirt. Clarke tried and failed not to stare, fingers fumbling uselessly with her own zipper as she watched the fabric peel up and away. "Yes. It is the seat of our government, and the place where all twelve Clans meet. Assuming we are successful in our attempts to break the mountain, I will need to return there..." Her voice trailed off, and a look of uncertainty crossed her face.

"You mean we will?" Clarke asked. She knew she had hit upon what Lexa was thinking when the alpha's expression melted into one of soft surprise. "Hey, I don't want to live at the dropship forever. It's basically falling apart. If you've already got a nice fancy city all ready for me to move into for a little while, I'm not gonna say no."

She'd kept her tone light, trying to relieve some of the tension that hung over the room like a heavy cloud, but Lexa’s expression was serious. “It will be necessary at some point for you to come to Polis as the leader of _Skaikru_ ,” she said quietly, “and so that my people may meet their leader’s mate. But what of your people, when they come down from the sky? You will want to live among them, won't you?”

Clarke’s heart clenched painfully, both at Lexa’s words and at the bittersweet mixture of hope and despair in them. She hadn't known Lexa long, but she had come to realize that the alpha was terribly selfless. She didn't ask anything for herself, or presume that anything would be given to her, but sacrificed without question. And yet…this was Lexa asking. She wouldn't do it outright, Clarke was sure, but she could hear the faint strains of hope in her mate’s voice that Clarke might possibly accept her offer to stay with her in Polis.

But when she thought of her mother and all the other people up on the Ark, her heart gave another painful squeeze. How could she be thinking of abandoning them to go and live with someone she'd barely met, in a city she'd never seen? How could she even be considering it? Yet the thought of being parted from Lexa was just as hurtful.

“I don't know what's going to happen when my people come down,” she said, hating how thick her voice sounded. “I don't even know _when_ they're coming down, or how, or if they even think we’re alive, or—”

She realized belatedly that she'd begun speaking faster and faster, her words growing more frantic as panic rose in her chest. But then Lexa’s arms were around her, enveloping her with their warmth and with the scent of her mate. She sighed, relaxing into them and nuzzling into the alpha’s neck, enjoying the way Lexa’s thumb rubbed gently between her shoulder blades. She wasn't quite sure what she was looking for until she found it, but when her lips touched the fresh scar on Lexa’s throat, she felt a jolt of electricity streak through her body, running straight down to her core.

Suddenly the idea of losing Lexa—either to Polis, the circumstances of duty separating them, or to the fight with Quint tomorrow—was unthinkable to her. Her arms tightened desperately around the Commander as she pressed her curves against Lexa’s hard lines. She wanted to be as close to Lexa as possible, as if she could somehow melt them together into one being, so that she could never go where Clarke couldn't follow. She felt a spark of fear ignite in her mind at just how much she had come to want and need the alpha in such a short span of time, but she ignored it. This—whatever _this_ was—was more important.

Lexa pulled away, just enough for Clarke to see the concern and the question in her eyes. She opened her mouth, presumably to ask exactly what she thought she was doing, but Clarke swallowed Lexa’s words with a heated kiss.

The moment their lips met, Clarke realized what she needed. Her hands tugged desperately at the bottom of Lexa’s shirt, seeking to draw it up and over her head somehow without stopping the kiss. Her frustration mounted as she raked her nails down the hard, flat plane of the alpha’s abdomen, and she let out a growl into Lexa’s mouth. That turned into a low moan when she felt the telltale swell against her thigh. Lexa groaned as well, but when Clarke’s hands shot to her waistband, fumbling with the buttons, she held them in place with her own.

Clarke whined before she could help herself, and was instantly glad that the room was dark, because she could feel a heated blush creeping across her skin. _God, what's gotten into me? I'm not in heat anymore. I have no excuse for acting like this..._

“Clarke,” Lexa said in a tender voice, her eyes wide and full of concern. When she brought one hand up to cup Clarke’s cheek, she practically melted into her mate’s touch. “What's wrong?”

Everything was wrong. She was alone in a strange land, among strange people, and almost all her friends had been taken away. Her life had been completely upended, and she had stopped counting the number of times she'd almost lost it over the past several weeks. But there was one thing she wasn't afraid of, one thing that felt solid and steady amidst all the fear and pain and confusion: Lexa. Lexa was with her. Lexa was here, holding her, offering comfort and understanding. And Clarke _needed_ that comfort with a ferocity that astonished her.

"Nothing," she murmured, even though she should have said 'everything.' "Nothing's wrong at all." She kissed Lexa again, but with the intensity of a woman drowning. She wanted to drown in Lexa's mouth, to curl up in Lexa's arms until she disappeared, to drink in every bit of the woman who had become her anchor. She wasn't sure how she had come to depend so much on a person she barely knew, but it didn't matter. Lexa was her mate. Her mate, who would risk her life yet again when the sun rose.

 _Don't think about tomorrow,_ Clarke told herself, threading her fingers through Lexa's hair and finding a hold. She didn't tug, but she did clutch hard enough to make Lexa moan into her mouth. _Think about right now. You have tonight. Make it count._

Lexa seemed to feel the same. The alpha's hands came to settle on her waist, tugging cautiously at the hem of her shirt. Clarke gasped, shuddering as soon as Lexa's fingers skimmed her bare flesh, but she took the unspoken request and ran with it. She broke their kiss, but only so she could strip off her shirt and toss it to the floor. For a moment, Lexa simply stared at her, dark green eyes clouded with lust and what Clarke could almost imagine was awe. The soft longing in them choked her, and for several heartbeats, neither of them spoke.

"Come with me, _Klark,_ " Lexa said at last, taking her hand and helping her off the bed. At first, Clarke's brow knitted in confusion, but then she realized where Lexa was leading her—toward a large, steaming pail of water that had been placed on one of the tables, alongside several clean cloths. A small smile cracked her face, and she tried to make a joke, something about how she didn't blame Lexa for not wanting to mate with her while they were both caked in mud and sweat from their journey to Tondisi, but something about the gentleness with which Lexa guided her over to the table broke her. She couldn't say anything.

Slowly, they stripped each other of the rest of their clothes. Lexa's hands were steady and deliberate as they roamed her body, undoing buttons and zippers, and though Clarke's fingers fumbled as she tried to return the favor, she somehow managed to figure out the clasps and fastenings that held Lexa's ensemble together. They both echoed the same sigh of relief once they were finally naked, and yet again, Clarke found herself staring at Lexa in silence. Her mate's body was beautiful, so much strength packed into a surprisingly slender and delicate frame, hard angles and soft curves contrasting breathtakingly.

"You first?" she croaked, feeling as if she should say something. The quiet surrounding them was heavy with unspoken words, and some of them terrified her.

"If you wish," Lexa said, with what had to be the softest smile Clarke had ever seen grace her chiseled features. She reached for one of the cloths and dipped it into the pail, wringing out the excess water.

Clarke began to protest that she had meant it the other way around—she had been prepared to wash Lexa first, to satisfy her overwhelming urge to explore the alpha's perfect body, but then Lexa's hands were on her again, urging her to step onto the plush rug beside the table. Her toes curled in the fur, tickling her feet, and she groaned as Lexa brought the cloth up to rest against the side of her neck. The warmth felt wonderful against her skin, and knots she hadn't even known she had been carrying melted from her shoulders under the alpha’s ministrations.

Slowly and carefully, Lexa drew the cloth along her body, rubbing gently at spots that were caked with dirt and mud, wiping away the residue of sweat and exhaustion that seemed to coat every inch of her. Clarke couldn’t help it—she was nearly boneless within minutes. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt so relaxed. And Lexa just had the most talented hands. They worked wonders, following the warm swipe of the rag with strong, firm kneading that seemed to turn her muscles molten.

At this point, Lexa was standing just behind Clarke, close enough that she could feel the heat radiating from her body, but the alpha had avoided touching her aside from what was necessary to get her clean. To Clarke’s mixed exasperation and amusement, however, when it came time to wipe down her breasts, Lexa hesitated. Clarke huffed out a quiet breath, and then took a step back, so that their bodies were pressed flush against one another.

Lexa let out a low gasp as the hard points of her nipples came into contact with Clarke’s back, and the firm shaft of her cock pressed against the curve of Clarke’s ass. Clarke had suspected it was already beginning to extend, but the moment it made contact with her rear, she felt it lengthen and harden further. She couldn’t prevent herself from rubbing against it, just a little, but the effect it had on Lexa was immense and immediate. Where before, her hands had been gentle and caressing, they were now forceful—not harsh or rough, but they roamed over her body with a possessive eagerness that had Clarke panting in short order.

Traversing along the flare of her hips and rounding the span of her waist, Lexa slid the cloth up along the flat plane of Clarke’s stomach, before cupping her breasts in both hands. Clarke shuddered, even though all Lexa was doing was running the rag along first one round breast, then the other, kneading and caressing gently. Her body ached for more—a firmer touch, more direct stimulation for the stiff, aching buds of her nipples—but she held back. She trusted Lexa, trusted that her mate knew what she was doing and, when she was done exploring, she would take care of Clarke in turn. Everything she’d done so far had demonstrated that this was true.

Thankfully, she didn’t have long to wait. Even though she experienced it as minutes of torture, it was likely only a few seconds before Lexa tossed the cloth back onto the table and returned to grip Clarke’s breasts a little more firmly, alternately pinching and rolling her nipples expertly between her fingers while kneading the sensitive flesh with her palms. Soon, Clarke's chest was heaving at the sensation, the rough drag of Lexa’s calloused skin contrasted with the way her hands moved: tenderly, as though she was something to be cherished, worshiped—something holy.

Something akin to panic sparked in Clarke’s chest then, at being so elevated and venerated by Lexa’s touch. She felt unbalanced, and she tried to spin around, to regain some measure of control of this encounter, but the alpha’s arms held her gently in place. All she could do was turn her head and tuck her nose into the hollow between her mate’s shoulder and neck, breathing in her warm, soothing scent.

Then Lexa's hands were moving lower again, traveling down Clarke’s ribcage—brushing against a ticklish spot that made her huff out a quiet chuckle—and then lower, along her belly, to grip her hips again. Hot lips traveled along the curve of her neck, blazing trails of warmth everywhere they touched. The further down Lexa's fingers reached, the more pressure they applied, and by the time they’d gotten to the tops of Clarke’s thighs, the kisses were being punctuated with gentle nips that made her breath hitch in her chest.

Clarke was sure that streams of her own wetness must be pouring down her inner thighs, and this was borne out when Lexa’s hand brushed very gently between her legs. They let out twin gasps when her fingers slid against a molten river of slick, and the alpha’s hand slipped down just a little further, Clarke thought, than she intended, bumping against the hard, aching ridge of her clit. She couldn’t help herself. She let out a low cry, her entire body jerking against Lexa’s.

Lexa's scent took on an edge of alarm. She began to withdraw her hand, but Clarke caught her wrist, urging her to stay in place. "Please," she murmured, her lips still swollen from their earlier kisses even though Lexa hadn't been rough with her. "Please... keep going."

For a moment, Lexa simply stared, as if in some sort of dreamlike trance. Then, she seemed to remember how to move her lips and murmured, "As you wish." Clarke shuddered as Lexa turned her around before backing her into the table. She gripped it gratefully, curling her fingers around the smooth wooden edges. She spread her legs in welcome, and Lexa's touch returned. Two of the alpha's fingers slid on either side of her clit, teasing the shaft and peeling the thin hood back to flick over the head. Her abdominal muscles clenched with need, and her hips gave a short jerk. Lexa had barely begun touching her, but the ache within her was already overwhelming.

Slowly, Lexa began increasing her pressure and speed, rubbing circles over her strained tip. Clarke couldn't stifle her reactions. She didn't want to reserve anything when it came to Lexa. She hadn't held back in the bunker, she hadn't held back in her tent, and she wasn't going to hold back now. She felt something, something so powerful that it left her chest feeling as though it had been ripped open. Although she was still too afraid to name it—it was too much, too soon—she wasn't going to deny its existence.

"Please." She pulled her left hand away from the table and cupped it over Lexa's, urging two of the alpha's fingers to slip past her entrance and sink deep inside of her. "Fuck me. I need you to fuck me." But it wasn't just fucking, and from the shine in Lexa's vivid green irises, they both knew it.

Lexa began curling, slowly and softly at first, then with more force when she found the right spot. The steady hook of pressure drew a long whimper of need from Clarke's lips, and she didn't try to stifle it. She let her head tip back, hair running between her shoulderblades in a loose waterfall, offering her breasts up for Lexa's mouth. The invitation was accepted at once, and she trembled and gasped as the wonderful heat of Lexa's lips folded around one of the sensitive peaks.

Feeling Lexa's tongue on her nipple and Lexa's fingers inside her and the heel of Lexa's hand grinding hard into her clit was almost too much for Clarke to process. Her head was spinning, and she couldn't breathe. The only thing she could see was Lexa's beautiful face peering up at her. The only thing she could smell was Lexa's comforting scent. The thoughts in her head were all of Lexa, and it was an immense relief. At last, she felt as if she could set aside her burdens. She didn't need to worry about anything but this.

Her pleasure rose swiftly, like a swelling wave approaching the shore and preparing to crash down, but she tried to hold it back. She didn't want to come. She wanted to stay in this precious moment as long as possible, with Lexa's mouth gliding across her chest and Lexa's fingers pumping gently but insistently inside of her. But her body was rapidly reaching its limit, and try as she might, she couldn't hold her climax back forever. Her inner muscles began to clench, shivering around Lexa's clever fingers, and her clit throbbed and twitched with each frantic beat of her heart. The pressure building inside her _burned_ , and only Lexa could release it.

"Oh God, Lexa, please," she muttered, not even sure what she was saying. She wanted to beg—maybe for Lexa to slow down, to speed up, she wasn't entirely sure. But even though she feared the fall, she had already reached the edge of the cliff. The decision was out of her hands. "Please make me come, _please_ make me come, _pleasepleaseplease make me..._ "

Lexa released her nipple, planting a line of quick kisses up along her throat until their lips found each other again. Clarke dove into the kiss with all the hunger she had, biting at Lexa's lower lip, sucking on the alpha's tongue, wanting to taste as much as possible. Her body went rigid as Lexa’s fingers hooked inside of her one last time, and she screamed as the first ripples of her release finally spilled into her lover’s hand.

Clarke shuddered as waves of pleasure coursed through her, driving into her like breakers against a beach. Instead of diminishing, her orgasm only seemed to build in intensity, and Lexa fucked her through it, her fingers battering endlessly against the swollen spot along her front wall and coaxing fresh floods of wetness from within her. Her thumb kept Clarke’s wildly twitching clit trapped beneath it, and her mouth plundered Clarke’s greedily, teeth sinking into her bottom lip and tongue flicking. Clarke found herself spasming in the grip of overwhelming sensations, and she might have fallen right off the table if Lexa’s other arm hadn’t been wrapped around her, firm and steady.

Just as Clarke was starting to see stars, to feel like her climax might never end, it began to fade. Lexa continued pumping into her through the aftershocks, but her thrusts were slower and gentler, until they stopped entirely. To Clarke’s relief, she didn’t pull out right away, but kept her fingers buried, a comforting fullness that helped ground her. But as she recovered, she found herself getting lost in the dark green forests of Lexa’s eyes, wide and burning with some unexpressed emotion that Clarke was afraid to try and parse. It terrified and exhilarated her in equal measure, and for a moment, she was caught up in it, unable to move or speak or do anything besides suck in great lungfuls of air.

A moment later, she became aware of the hard length of Lexa’s cock pressed against her thigh. It was twitching with heavy, unrelieved pressure, and Clarke realized that she wasn’t the only one struggling to catch her breath. Slowly, she ran her hands up and down the alpha’s back, enjoying the sensation of the tense muscles beneath her fingers. Lexa hissed as Clarke raked gently with her nails, all the way down to her ass, before pulling them away entirely and leaning back against the table with a slight smirk. “We should get you clean too, Commander.”

Lexa let out a noise that was part growl and part whine before attempting to begin thrusting again, but Clarke was ready for her. She caught Lexa's wrist, forcing her gently but firmly away, ignoring the way her inner walls protested the loss. She was not going to miss the opportunity to explore Lexa's body, its intoxicating blend of sculpted muscles and sleek curves—and, she thought with a bit of a grin, to torment her mate just a little bit.

Pushing Lexa off of her, she turned to retrieve another of the cloths, soaking it thoroughly in the now-tepid water with one hand while keeping the other on Lexa’s hip to hold her in place. The alpha tried to protest, “Clarke, this isn't necessary…” but Clarke wasn't hearing it.

“It is,” she said firmly, wringing out the excess moisture into the bucket. “You took care of me. Let me take care of you now, okay?”

Lexa looked at her for a long moment, her eyes full of fear and hope and care all at once. It made Clarke’s throat grow thick and her chest feel tight, and she began to turn away, unable to continue meeting Lexa’s gaze. But then the alpha nodded and stepped back, arms at her sides, giving Clarke enough room to work. At first, all Clarke did was drink her mate in, lingering on the small, high peaks of her breasts, traveling down the toned planes of her curves, luxuriating in the sculpted expanse of her abdomen. But soon, it wasn't enough to merely look. She needed to touch as well.

Beginning with Lexa’s face, she gently rubbed the remnants of mud and dirt and war paint from the gorgeously crafted angles of her cheekbones and jawline. When Lexa leaned subtly into her touch, Clarke felt small cracks spiderweb through her heart at the way the alpha responded to such small tenderness. It made her want to draw Lexa into her arms and hold her until those cracks were closed, but she could feel urgency building between her legs once more, and she wanted to take the time to do this right before it overwhelmed her.

She moved lower, tracing slow and steady circles down the alpha’s neck, caressing the firm line of her collarbones and then rounding the curves of her breasts. The moment Clarke’s hands cupped them, Lexa let out a needy whine. She clamped her mouth shut a moment later, but the damage was already done. Clarke could tell exactly how keyed up she was, and she grinned to show Lexa that she knew.

Taking advantage of her newfound power, Clarke stroked slow trails down Lexa's quivering body, wiping away the light coat of sweat and grime to reveal soft, smooth skin underneath. The urge to taste instead of just touch rose swiftly within her, and she couldn't resist placing a few wet kisses along the line of Lexa's shoulder as she washed her mate's sides and stomach. _My mate._ The words left her dizzy with delight, but they also brought a sharp stab with them. Her _mate_ would be the one risking her life tomorrow, and just the thought of what might happen cut a gaping hole into Clarke's chest. She gazed at Lexa again, momentarily forgetting how to breathe.

 _I've only just found you. I can't lose you so soon._ She paused, letting the cloth hover in the middle of Lexa's abdomen, her lips a breath away not from her mark, but from the old scar on the other side of Lexa's throat. _I... I don't know if I can lose you at all._ She closed her eyes and kissed it, trying not to remember the hollow sadness she had glimpsed in Lexa's eyes the one time she had talked about her first mate. _Will that be me tomorrow? Will I be the one left behind without a piece of myself?_

Of course, she couldn't conceal her distress, not while she and Lexa were pressed so close. Carefully, Lexa took the cloth from her shaking hand, finishing the job of washing herself with a few quick swipes before draping it back across the rim of the bucket. Then, the commander took her hand, lacing their fingers together and pressing a kiss to her burning cheek. "Come, _Klark._ There is a bed here. The two of us should use it while we have the chance."

Despite all of the conflicting emotions rising in her chest—or perhaps because of them—Clarke couldn't say no to such an offer. She wanted Lexa with a fierceness that frightened her, not just physically, but in ways that ran far deeper. She threaded her fingers through Lexa's hair, dragging their mouths together again, and the two of them stumbled for the bed together, hands roaming and grasping everywhere at once.

Clarke managed to push Lexa onto the mattress first, but she didn't remain on top for long. The alpha quickly reversed their positions, rolling her onto her back. Clarke hissed as she felt the firm shaft of Lexa's cock rub against her, and her inner walls clenched with need. Her first release had been intense, but it had only left her in need of more. She needed to be filled, stretched, _taken—_ but most of all, she needed validation. She needed some sign that she wasn't alone in this tangled mess of feelings. She needed to know that Lexa felt something for her. She gazed up into Lexa's eyes, cupping the alpha's strong jaw only to find it quivering. _I need to hear that you aren't going to leave me..._

"Lexa," she rasped, lips shaking as she formed her lover's name. "I need you."

It was the right thing to say. Lexa's strong hands curled around her thighs, spreading them wider and settling between them. Their bodies came together as if they had been made for each other, and as the broad head of Lexa's cock lined up with her entrance, Clarke trembled. She tilted her hips up in offering, and as Lexa began to push inside, hope won out over fear. She finally allowed herself to relax, blinking away the sting in her eyes and burying her face into the warm crook of Lexa's throat, this time on the side that carried her own mark.

The moment her lips touched the scar, Lexa let out a low groan. Her hips bucked involuntarily, and several inches of her shaft sank into Clarke all at once. Clarke cried out, overwhelmed by the sudden stretch and fullness. Even though she'd only felt it for the first time a few short days ago, the sensation of Lexa’s cock splitting her open had become intimately familiar. It felt like home.

A few more slow, deep thrusts, and Lexa was sheathed completely inside of her. The alpha was still for a couple of seconds as Clarke fluttered around her, struggling to adjust, but soon neither of them could wait any longer. When Lexa pulled her head back so that she could look into Clarke’s eyes, her own gaze asking a silent question, Clarke nodded. She was ready. If this was the last time she'd ever get to feel Lexa inside of her again, she didn't want to waste even a second.

Lexa began moving, rolling her hips into Clarke’s and hitting the exact perfect spot inside of her with each thrust. Clarke’s inner walls squeezed down around Lexa’s thick shaft, torn between agony every time she pulled back and fresh elation each time she pushed back in. She might have been embarrassed at the noises she couldn't keep from escaping, the unrestrained moans and cries that spilled from her lips as wetness poured out around Lexa’s shaft, but she could tell that the alpha was coming similarly undone. Her mate’s low groans and hoarse panting were magic to Clarke’s ears, only serving to heighten her arousal.

It wasn't long before the omega could feel her climax building again in the pit of her stomach. Shuddering, she lifted her hips, silently pleading for more, and then wrapped her legs tighter around Lexa’s waist, allowing her to drive even deeper. The effect was immediate. Lexa’s pants turned to gasps, her chest heaving against Clarke’s, and her rhythm faltered as she attempted to maintain control. But Clarke didn't want her to be able to keep control. She wanted to feel Lexa utterly lost the same way she was, pounding into her and splitting her open with her knot until she filled Clarke with her release.

So she dug her nails into Lexa’s back, delighting in the way they flexed, exulting in the alpha’s raw power above her, within her. “Please,” she whispered in Lexa’s ear, trying to put everything she couldn't say into that word. “Please, Lexa, I need you to come with me, stay with me, fill me…”

“ _Klark,”_ Lexa gasped, her hips stuttering again as the omega clamped down ever tighter around her cock. Clarke could feel her shaft pounding with unreleased pressure, and she thought she could die with the need to feel Lexa’s come coursing through it, filling her utterly. “ _Klark,”_ the alpha groaned again, but whatever she had been about to say was lost as Clarke’s hips rolled upward to meet hers. She had no more words after that, just breathing out Clarke’s name with every thrust as though it was the only thing she could remember.

Just when Clarke thought she was going to explode with the pleasure bursting through her, Lexa let out a loud cry and began pushing slowly but steadily forward, pressing the pounding thickness of her knot against the tight ring of Clarke’s opening. The omega gasped at the stretch, but began working to relax enough to accept it. Lexa’s knot and come inside of her, filling her to bursting, were all she was conscious of wanting at that moment.

It wasn't as easy now that Clarke wasn't in heat, but slowly Lexa managed to push her way forward. Clarke savored every second of the burning stretch, but then it finally slipped inside of her with a slick pop. As soon as Clarke’s entrance sealed around her, Lexa came with a hoarse cry, powerful jets of her release bursting from the head of her cock and hitting the omega’s deepest places. As soon as Clarke felt the first spurt, she couldn’t hold herself back any longer. Her screams mingled with Lexa’s as she shuddered into her own orgasm. Her inner walls clamped down harder than ever around her mate’s knot, milking it for every drop of come she had.

The tides of their shared release ebbed and flowed, a continuous cycle of push and pull that sent Clarke floating away on waves of pleasure. The next morning they would be parted by duty _,_ and possibly even by death, but tonight, that didn't matter. Tonight, Lexa was hers.


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I dunno about y'all, kru, but it has been a ROUGH WEEK for N1ghtwr1ter here. So what better way to cheer everybody up with some Clexa and Ranya badassery AND fluff? Yep, next up on "Lexa Is A Badass" we have the fight scene that Rae and I TOTALLY didn't rip off from 3x04! And shortly thereafter, on "Raven Is A Genius," well...Raven is a genius! As always, tell us what you thought in the comments and on tumblr @n1ghtwr1ter and @raedmagdon.
> 
> [](http://s558.photobucket.com/user/calfaolan/media/green78%20-%20twon%20cover_zpskkb485uj.jpg.html)  
> 

The next morning, Lexa awoke to a sweet scent tingling in her nose, the warm press of skin against her own, and an all too familiar stirring between her legs. She smiled before she even opened her eyes, burying her face further into Clarke's hair and inhaling deeply. Her mate's smell was warm and comforting, clean thanks to their bath the night before, and although it was welcoming, it had been strong enough to call to her even in sleep.

With a yawn, she cracked her eyelids open and blinked the blurriness from her vision. Early morning sunlight poured in at a low, painful angle through the far window, but it highlighted the curve of Clarke's head and made her hair glow golden. The sight stole Lexa's breath, and she simply stared, too stunned to move. She couldn't quite believe that this beautiful creature in her bed was hers— _her_ mate.

Memories from the previous night came flooding back to her, and her eyes swam. Crying was something _Heda_ never did, but with Clarke asleep beside her, Lexa felt safe enough to let the tears well up, even if they didn't fall. The way they had come together last night hadn't been anything like their torrid encounter in the bunker. That had been about satisfying their needs, about sweat and sex and desperation. But this...this had been different. She trembled as she remembered the tender way Clarke had gone about washing her, the way she and Clarke had gazed into each other's eyes, the way they had fallen asleep in each other's arms.

It hadn't been about desire. It hadn't been about breeding, or marking, or claiming. She had simply wanted to be close to Clarke, to drink her in, and some deep part of her hoped Clarke's motivations had been the same. Although Lexa was still afraid of naming them, the emotions growing within her were frighteningly familiar. In her experience, pain usually came shortly after they blossomed—but she couldn't stifle them, either. She cared for Clarke, even though they had only known each other a few short days. She wanted to protect the omega. She wanted to spend more time with her, even outside of a bed—to learn more about her, to show her the wonders of the ground and hear of the miracles of the sky.

But first, she had her duties.

Her people were still trapped in Mount Weather. She still had a challenge to answer. She was still _Heda_ first, even though she wanted nothing more than to remain in bed with Clarke as Lexa for as long as possible.

With a heavy sigh, she pressed a kiss to the back of Clarke's shoulder, letting her lips linger on the soft skin there. To Lexa's relief, Clarke stirred a little beneath the covers, but her eyes remained shut. Lexa's heart clenched in her chest, and she fought a fresh wave of stinging tears back as she removed her hand from the soft curve of Clarke's hip. It would be better this way. She was relatively confident in her ability to defeat Quint, but she was still worn out from their escape from the _Maunon,_ and it was impossible to predict the whims of fate. She would prefer if Clarke wasn't there to witness the fight—just in case.

_I'll let her sleep. She looks so peaceful. And in the event of my death, she shouldn't need to see it. I can give her the gift of a few more hours of happiness._

Besides, Lexa thought as she began pulling on her clothes, she knew it was unlikely that Quint would deal kindly with her body in the event of his victory. She would never forget how it had felt to find Costia’s head in her bedroom, the ultimate symbol of Nia’s victory: her own mate’s dear, beloved form, now broken and mutilated by the Ice Queen’s cruelty. And while Quint might have been _Trikru_ , might have fought against _Azgeda_ faithfully in many skirmishes, he was a member of an old guard, who held old opinions and beliefs about how to deal with the vanquished. While their numbers were dwindling, for which Lexa was grateful, such traditionalists were highly reluctant to follow her into the future she was attempting to forge, first with the Coalition, and now with her alliance with _Skaikru._

_And, with all luck, their numbers will decrease today by one more._

Strapping her sword to her back, she allowed herself a final glance at her sleeping Sky girl. Everything within her ached to return to the bed, to curl up around her mate again, but she resisted. She had a challenge to face. She was _Heda,_ and her fight was not yet over. Now, however, she had one more thing to fight for.

* * *

Clarke was awakened by the sun lancing down into her eyes. Groaning, she pulled the soft pillow back across her face, grumbling to Lexa, “Ugh, could you _please_ shut off the sun?” When she didn’t receive any response, she smirked a bit. Her mate must be sleeping even deeper than she had been. _Well, this seems like an excellent time to find out if she’s ticklish._

When she reached for the alpha who had been settled warmly against her back, however, her fingers felt only empty space. Empty, and cold. Clarke jerked upright in a panic, heart thundering in her chest, eyes frantically and uselessly searching the room for any indication of her mate’s presence. Her anxiety spiked as she realized that while her own clothes were still in the heap where she’d left them after stripping the night before, Lexa’s were gone. _She could just have stepped out to get us breakfast, or talk to Indra, or…_ But her already-fragile hopes were dashed when she realized Lexa’s sword was also missing.

 _“Fuck!”_ she barked in a sudden burst of furious panic, flinging herself out of the bed. What the hell had happened? Had she just slept through everything? _But that doesn’t make any sense,_ she thought as she rushed to gather up her clothing and dress herself. _Why would Lexa just…_

The answer hit her as she was pulling on her boots, prompted by the memory of her mate’s dear, dumb, brave face looking down at hers the night before, care and concern and protectiveness shining in her eyes. “That _idiot!”_ she snarled, launching herself up from the bed and heading out the door. “I’m going to _kill_ her…” She cut herself off there, but her traitorous brain finished the sentence for her: _if she’s not already dead._

Upon bursting out into the chilly morning, Clarke realized abruptly that she had no idea where to go. There were a few people moving around, carrying wood or water, and she was about to flag down one of them when a roar swelled from a path across the village square. Clarke was off and running instantly. The empty cavity of her chest was filled with raw, primal fear, but there wasn't a trace of doubt in her mind. She needed to find her mate and stop this foolishness before it was too late.

Once she started sprinting in the right direction, it wasn't difficult to find where the fight was taking place. A circle had been set up in the middle of what looked to be a disassembled market. Carts stood off to the side, forming a ring, and within were what looked to be thin metal barriers, hastily constructed into something like an arena. A large crowd of onlookers hovered just beyond, peering eagerly at three figures standing inside: Indra, the hulking alpha known as Quint, and…

“Lexa!” Clarke shouted, before she could stop herself. Several heads turned in her direction, the Grounders near enough to hear her voice over the murmuring crowd, but she ignored them completely. She rushed to the edge of the ring, relieved to see that her mate was still whole. Lexa wore even more armor than usual, a leather ensemble to match her shoulderguard, and her flowing red cape ran like blood down her back. It swirled as she turned toward the sound of her name, and suddenly, Clarke couldn't breathe.

To anyone else, this would have been a fearsome sight—a true alpha, teeth bared, thick braided hair pulled back and forehead glistening with sweat, blade gleaming in the sun. But to her, this woman wasn't just an alpha. She wasn't only the Commander. This was _Lexa._ Her alpha. Her Commander. Her mate.

" _Klark_ ," Lexa whispered, her voice carrying despite the soft tone as the crowd went silent at last. It seemed as if everyone nearby was listening to them, but Clarke didn't care. She leaned over the metal barrier as Lexa strode toward her, trying to speak, but unable to force any words out around the lump in her throat. "You shouldn't have come..." Lexa's voice trailed off, and Clarke's heart clenched as her green eyes softened with concern and affection. "...but I'm glad you did."

She wanted to say 'don't do this'. She wanted to say 'please'. But all that came out was "Me, too." She had sprinted to the edge of the circle with every intention of stopping this fight, and part of her still screamed to, but somehow, she knew her attempts would be useless. Lexa was stubborn, and even though they were mates, Clarke knew she was hardly in a position to make demands, especially of the leader of a people she knew very little about. If Lexa didn't face this fight, the consequences could be disastrous, even deadly.

" _Klark?_ " For a moment, Lexa seemed torn, as if she wasn't certain whether or not she should continue. Then, she raised her chin and swallowed, seeming to make up her mind. _"Niron,_ if my fight ends today, there is something you must do for me. Make sure my body is transported back to Polis. There are people there who will keep you safe, until the next Commander is chosen and can help you defeat the _Maunon_. I promise my Spirit will choose wisely."

A hundred questions raced through Clarke's head, but she shoved them all down. She refused to consider a scenario in which Lexa would die. It simply couldn't happen. _We've only just met. I've only just started to..._ She sucked in a shallow breath that stabbed at her lungs, unable to finish the thought in her head, but her chest was threatening to burst with the feeling anyway. "No. I don't want some other Commander, I want _you_. You can't do this, Lexa. Please..." She spared a glance over Lexa's shoulder, to where Quint was waiting. He seemed even bigger and angrier than she remembered, all bulky muscles and broad shoulders. He was staring daggers in their direction, and her stomach lurched with fear. "He could kill you—"

Lexa reached out to touch her cheek, the tips of her fingers burning like a brand. "He won't. You haven't seen me fight."

 _And I don’t want to. I don’t understand why we have to do this at all._ But she did, she truly did. The noise in the crowd she’d pushed through had been shouting and cheering for their Commander, but she had smelled their tension, their anticipation, their bloodthirst. If Lexa were to dishonor herself by refusing Quint’s challenge, her people’s confidence in her leadership would quickly erode. And while her own people didn’t handle disputes through public, ritualized combat, she could not deny that if an alpha from the Ark were to back down from an open challenge like this, it would be very hard to continue respecting his or her authority the same way.

All Clarke could do was shake her head, her eyes filling and her chest welling with emotions that she could not name, or was afraid to. They had been enclosed in their own little bubble of silence, but the noise of the crowd had steadily begun to return, and Clarke knew that she did not have long. Desperate to keep Lexa to herself, if only for a few more moments, she asked, “What you called me… _niron?_ What does it mean?”

To her surprise, Lexa’s tanned skin betrayed a deep blush. “It…I…” The alpha’s face hardened into a mask of determination. “I will tell you what it means after I win.”

Clarke let out a noise that was half sob, half chuckle at her mate’s courage and bravado. “I’m holding you to that.” A delicate thread of silence stretched between them, vulnerable to being snapped at any moment by the gathering storm. In the end, the only thing Clarke could think to do was hold out her arm. When Lexa clasped it in the Grounder fashion, Clarke pulled her close and murmured, “May we meet again.”

The alpha’s eyebrows rose, and her scent betrayed uncertainty, but after a moment she repeated, “May we meet again.”

After removing her shoulder guard and sash and passing them off to an attendant, Lexa drew her sword from its sheath with a resonant hiss and stepped out into the arena, her strides swift and sure. When she reached Quint’s side, she turned crisply on her heel to face Indra, and Clarke felt her heart clench with something that wasn’t merely worry. For all that she was terrified for Lexa, terrified that she might see her mate lying bleeding and broken on this battlefield, she had to admit that she had never seen Lexa look more intensely _alpha_ than at this moment. Squirming with a mixture of guilt and arousal, Clarke forced herself to pay attention to the scene at hand, but she couldn’t help it: her eyes kept drifting back to the long, lean lines of her mate’s limbs, the firm curve of her ass in her tight pants…

 _Jesus Christ, Griffin, get a grip! You can fuck her brains out_ after _this stupidity…provided she survives._

Indra’s voice rang out across the makeshift arena, hard and clear, and even though Clarke didn’t understand the words, there was a ritualistic solemnity to them that made her heart pound all the harder. “ _Hashta soulou gonplei, bilaik won hedon en noumou: du souda wan op deyon.”_ After a beat, in which Clarke felt that the world stood still, the chieftain said gravely, “ _Yo na jomp in.”_

* * *

Lexa clenched her jaw, trying to focus on her opponent, but her mind was elsewhere. Indra's words sounded as if they were coming toward her from a great distance, and she could feel Clarke’s gaze boring into the back of her head. She wanted to turn, to retreat back to the wall and take Clarke in her arms, to whisper to her mate that everything would be well...but she knew she couldn't make that promise. Although she was confident in her abilities, she couldn't guarantee her victory. And if she didn't focus sometime in the next few seconds, Clarke would have to watch her die.

 _No._ She gritted her teeth, growling low in her throat as a wave of hot anger and determination coursed through her veins. She refused to let herself become Clarke's Costia. Losing her first mate had devastated her—had nearly broken her. She wouldn’t let Clarke experience the same heartbreak, the same devastating, raw emptiness, because she hadn't been strong enough. " _Ai laik Heda,"_ she snarled, low, sending flecks of spit into the dust at her feet and letting her scent swell out from her in powerful waves. _No foolish, disobedient pup playing at being an alpha is going to put his sword through me._

Quint selected his sword from the rack of weapons provided, a sharp blade to match her own, curling his fingers around the grip until his huge knuckles bulged. Lexa wasn't sure if he had heard her, but it didn't matter. He was clearly angry, and out for blood. He charged at her the second Indra’s hand came down, probably hoping to take her by surprise with swiftness and sheer, brute strength.

Lexa didn't allow it. She didn't even raise her blade. She turned, moving as little as possible, letting the first thrust of his sword sweep right past her. Quint was fast for his size, but she was the wind. She danced beyond his reach, letting him stumble past her.

The ease with which she avoided him only made him angrier. His nose wrinkled, and his upper lip peeled back to show his teeth as he bared them in a sneer. "What's wrong, _Heda?_ Scared to face me?"

Lexa didn't waste her breath responding. Spitting taunts was an amateur mistake. Instead, she flicked her blade almost carelessly toward him—a deceptively simple slice meant to take his measure. Thanks to his larger frame, Quint had more reach than she did. She would have to be careful.

He parried and then struck again, faster and with less obviousness to his movements, but she still managed to dodge easily enough. She shifted her weight back, weaving beyond the reach of his lunge, kicking up dust with the speed of her steps. This time, he didn't remain still. He swung again and again, as if he were hacking through overgrown brush instead of trying to kill her. Lexa continued to bide her time. His scent burned in her nostrils, heavy and thick, stinking of sweat and aggression, but she breathed through it anyway, ignoring his foul stench. _Let him tire himself out. Let him make himself angry, and let his anger make him careless. Only then will I strike._

Finally, she saw her opening. Quint attempted a wild horizontal sweep, exposing the center of his broad chest. It was too enticing a target to resist. Turning with him, she drove her elbow hard into his gut and sent him stumbling, before spiraling away again and returning to guard position. She knew that she should take advantage of his momentary helplessness, but she also knew that in his current posture— doubled-over and wheezing, but still protective of his vital organs—she would be unlikely to strike a blow that would end things decisively. And for all that her head was pounding with battle-fury, her alpha roaring for her to spill his blood, she held back. She knew she had to kill Quint, but that didn’t mean she wanted to make him suffer.

And so she stepped back, preparing to circle again, biding her time until he truly gave her an opportunity to end this. She underestimated just how humiliating her opponent would find her forbearance, however. Quint’s head snapped up, and all she got was a glimpse of his burning blue eyes before he had launched himself at her with a bestial roar. She managed to bring her sword to bear just in time, but the other alpha ignored it, impaling his side on the tip of her blade in his eagerness to get to her. Before she could fully grasp the insanity of such a move, he was upon her, bearing her to the ground, his massive hands wrapped around her throat.

Up this close, his scent was even more sickening, filling her nostrils with choking pheromones. Or perhaps that was simply the fact that he seemed determined to choke the life out of her, and in his sudden, feral assault, he had gotten a pretty good start. Lexa found herself scrabbling uselessly at his fingers, attempting to peel them away from her neck, but they might as well have been iron bars for all the good that did her. Quint’s grip only seemed to tighten, and soon the thin stream of air she was able to pull into her lungs slowed to a trickle, and then stopped entirely. _How could I have let this happen?_ she wondered as his gaze bored into hers, his lips lifted in a savage snarl. _How could this…animal have taken me by surprise?_

But it didn’t matter. Nothing mattered, because if she couldn’t figure out how to get herself out of this predicament soon, Clarke was going to watch her die. _Klark…ai niron…I’m so sorry. I never meant for you to see this…_ Even though she knew very well that she needed to be focused on grappling with Quint, testing his weaknesses, doing something— _anything—_ to stop the stars sparkling in front of her eyes as her brain protested its lack of oxygen, she found her gaze shifting over to the crowd, desperate for one last sight of the omega. When their eyes locked, the fear and desperation swimming in Clarke’s face nearly stopped her heart.

As though he could tell who she was looking at, Quint’s gloating voice returned. “You’re done, _Heda,_ ” he said, spitting out her title like it was something filthy. “I will drag your body through the streets of Polis so that all may see what comes of those who negotiate with our enemies. And when I’m through, I will have your pretty little omega all to myself. I’m sure she will bear me many fine litters…”

Everything in Lexa’s breath-starved brain seemed to snap back into focus at his taunts. Her alpha let out a wordless roar, and with the last ounce of air she possessed, she snarled, “You will not…touch…Clarke!” Her fingers fumbled open the catch to the sheath on her thigh where her knife was strapped, and with all her strength, she pulled the blade free and drove it into the side of Quint’s neck.

At first, little happened. Quint's eyes bulged wide in surprise, then clouded over in pain. Lexa's head continued to swim. Spots flashed at the edges of her vision, and as she stared up into the golden light of the sun, wondering if she had been too late. Too late to stop Quint. Too late to protect Clarke. Too late... But then, after what felt like an eternity, the blocky bands of Quint's fingers loosened from her windpipe, and sweet air rushed into fill her lungs. She sucked it in greedily, and the world instantly came into clearer focus.

Everything stopped spinning just in time for her to witness the end. Quint had fallen to one side, slumped on the ground, hand pawing at the blade embedded deep in his throat. Lexa was almost impressed when he grasped the hilt and pulled it out, but it was a fatal mistake. Blood gushed from the wound in his neck and then from his mouth, and his attempts to breathe brought only a sickening gurgle as shiny red bubbles burst at his lips to streak down his chin.

Soon, he was still, and the lower half of his face, as well as most of his chest, was a mess of crimson streaks. The blood pooling in the dust beside him was almost black, but not as black as her own. Although she was sure she would carry bruises for a long while thanks to his failed attempt at strangling her, she hadn't suffered a single cut. She cast one more look at his fallen form, her face twisting into a mask of disgust.

" _Jus drein, jus daun_."

The words came out as a rasp, surely not audible to anyone, let alone understandable, but she had lived to say them. She had won. She had saved not only her own life, but Clarke's...

 _Clarke._ Suddenly, her mate was the only thing on her mind. She scrambled to her feet, struggling at first, but when her balance faltered, she thought of Clarke's hands on her face, Clarke's eyes gazing into hers, Clarke's lips forming her name. That gave her the strength she needed to raise her sword. She couldn't speak with the injuries to her throat, but she didn't need to. The crowd was already cheering wildly, chanting her name at the top of their lungs.

_"Heda! Heda! Heda na kik raun feva!"_

From the sidelines, Indra had a sour look on her face—obviously approving of her victory, but less in the throng's revelry. Lexa ignored the chieftain's stare. She only had eyes for one person: Clarke, who was staring at her with a clear mixture of awe and horror. Slowly, Lexa staggered toward the edge of the ring, where the Sky girl was waiting for her, looking as though she hadn't been breathing either.

"Lexa," Clarke gasped, swinging her legs over the short metal wall and running the last few yards to meet her. It was completely improper behavior, but Lexa didn't have the strength of will to stop her mate, or even to stop herself. Her head was swimming again, her heartbeat pounding heavily in her ears, and her throat hurt terribly. She opened her arms to pull Clarke into an embrace, but instead, she found herself falling to her knees. Her face pressed against Clarke's soft stomach, and the omega's soothing scent filled her nose, bringing some relief.

 _"Niron,_ " she croaked. The word burned as it came up through her throat, but she forced it through her shaking lips anyway. " _Niron_ means _..._ "

"You don't have to tell me _now_ , you idiot," Clarke said, stroking frantically at her hair, pushing back her braids as if clearing them away from her forehead would magically revive her. "God, Lexa, you almost _died_. I almost watched you die..."

But Lexa had always been stubborn. "Loved one," she finished, with considerable effort. " _Niron_ means..." Having fulfilled her promise, she let her eyes drift shut and continued breathing against her mate’s belly, her duty to her people completed at last.

* * *

As Raven had predicted, the Delinquents and the Grounders were separated the moment they stepped through the heavy steel door at the end of the decontamination chamber. She only had time for one final glimpse of Anya’s backside before they were marched away. But while the Grounders were taken through a wide set of double doors at one end of the hall, Raven and the rest of the Arkers were led up a set of stairs through a set of swinging doors that didn’t even need a keycard or a passcode, and down a blindingly white hallway that made her eyes water. But she forced them to stay open, taking in every detail. If she was going to get them out of this mess, she needed to stay alert.

It soon became pretty clear that while the downstairs area was designed for heavy security, this facility was more targeted toward scientific research. There were a lot of security cameras, but there were also a few notable blind spots. Equipment that looked like it had more place in a genetics lab than in the horror movie that had been downstairs lined the walls. As the Arkers were gradually peeled away in groups of three and four and shoved into more of those small white rooms, Raven peered inside. They seemed to be partitioned off into makeshift cages with chicken wire, held shut only by a padlock. The beta smirked to herself. _This is gonna be even easier than I thought._

They were nearing the end of the row, and when Raven saw who she’d be sharing her living quarters with for the foreseeable future, she had to bite back a groan. Miller was all right, and so was Monty, the very sweet beta with a very obvious crush on him, but Jasper was a pain in the ass. A _whiny_ pain in the ass. He hadn’t shut up the entire time they’d been captured, until a guard had shoved the butt of a rifle into his stomach. Raven had nearly cheered.

The four of them were pushed into the rickety cages, which held only a cot and a bucket. Raven’s nose wrinkled—three guesses what they were supposed to use _that_ for—but it only increased her determination to figure out a way to escape. She watched as the guards locked each of them in, noting the simplicity of the mechanism. As soon as they’d shoved Jasper into his enclosure, he started yelling again. “Hey, what are you doing? You can’t just leave us here! What do you think you’re— _hey!”_

Raven rolled her eyes, but took advantage of the distraction he provided to watch one of the other guards keying open the lock on the door. _He didn’t need to use his keycard, so all I’ll need to know is the passcode._ She narrowed her eyes, focusing on remembering the movements of the guard’s fingers, and by the time the door hissed open, she was pretty sure she had it.

She waited until the sound of yelling and teenaged protests had died down, suggesting that all of the Delinquents had been stowed away, before she made her move. Digging into the wire at the back of her cage, she managed to pull a piece away that was roughly the length of her finger. It took her a brisk thirty seconds to jimmy the lock open—Jasper hadn’t even stopped whimpering, and Monty was still trying to calm him. All three of them took notice when the door to her cage swung open with a heavy creak— _gotta figure out some way to muffle that noise, if I’m going to be doing this often,_ Raven thought—and stared at her with wide eyes.

“Well, it’s been fun,” Raven said, affecting a casual tone, “but I’m gonna have to catch you guys later.” She couldn’t resist winking at Jasper’s dumbfounded expression, but she regretted it as soon as he recovered the power of speech.

“Wait, what the fuck, Reyes? Why aren’t you letting us all out?”

“Because, dumbass, they’ll notice a bunch of idiots running around in here a lot faster than they’ll notice just one,” she said, making her way over to the door and examining the keypad. It might have been a fairly simple sequence, but she suspected that she’d only get one shot at it before a ton of alarms started going off in her face.

“Yeah, but if we all leave at once—”

“And go where, exactly?” she said impatiently, straightening up and leveling a glare at him. When he didn’t answer, she nodded briskly. “That’s what I thought. We have no clue where we are or how to get out, so somebody needs to scout the lay of the land. If they catch all of us wandering around like morons, they’ll be a lot more likely to put us somewhere more secure, and it’ll be even harder to get out. If they catch just _me,_ I look like an outlier.” That seemed to shut him up, but he didn’t look happy about it. Raven didn’t honestly care.

Turning her attention back to the keypad, she punched in the sequence she thought she’d seen the guard use. After a couple of very tense seconds, the door let out a loud hiss to let her know she’d succeeded. Beaming, she looked back over her shoulder at the other Delinquents. “Don’t worry, I’ll be back. Besides, there’s no way we’re getting out of here without a little muscle…so I’ve got some Grounders to find.”

* * *

Anya gripped the bars of the cage with both hands, feeling the metal rasp against her palms as she stared out through the gaps. There was nothing beyond but dark grey walls smeared with something that looked like blood, and nothing above but flickering square lights. The room smelled all wrong, like chemicals and other things she could not name, but the stink of death lingered underneath, thick enough to clog her throat. She closed her eyes, breathing deep, but her heart wouldn't stop pounding with fear.

She knew warriors were not supposed to fear death, but she was _afraid._ Not just for herself and her _gonakru_ , but for Raven. She had no idea where Raven and the other _Skaikru_ betas had been taken, but she knew their fate would be just as horrible, or even worse than her own. Perhaps they would not be turned into monsters with the Red, but who knew with the _Maunon_ ? From what that healer with the clipboard had been saying, the _Skaikru_ children were important. Whatever the _Maunon_ wanted from them, it couldn't be good.

The sound of whimpers shook her out of her fearful pit of despair, and she turned to the occupants of the nearest cages. They were all shoved into these tiny metal cells, in long rows stacked very high, like packing crates. There was barely enough room to crouch, and they were close enough to each other that even though they were betas, the stench of their terror read loud and clear. Their faces betrayed fear, and even though she was just as terrified, Anya did her best to seem calm and confident. Since she was the only alpha left, the betas were watching her for cues, automatically looking to her for leadership.

She couldn't fail them.

 _"Oso nou na fir raun,_ " she said, putting as much confidence into the trembling words as she could. The betas turned their wide, frightened eyes on her, and Anya bore their haunted looks. She heard the scrabbling from other cages nearby as others drew close to listen, and she raised her voice so they could hear. _"Oso ste gonakru kom Trikru. Oso nou fir Maunon raun, en oso nou fir wamplei raun."_

To her relief, her words seemed to comfort them. There were no smiles, but a few of the warriors squared their shoulders, straightening as much as they could in the low cages. Anya tilted her own chin up, letting her alpha scent swell out to cover some of the unfamiliar smells of their prison. _"Oso gonplei nou ste odon nowe."_

"I have no idea what you just said, but it sounded pretty badass."

Anya whirled around in surprise, her mouth falling open in shock. There, standing before her, was the last person in the world she had expected to see: Raven, alive and whole and grinning through the bars of the cage. She no longer wore the strange white loincloths the _Maunon_ had dressed them in, but a uniform, just like the guards who had brought them here. "Surprised to see me?" Raven said with a smug smirk. "Thought so. Now, let's see about busting you out of here and getting you a pair of these fancy duds too."

" _Reivon_ , what are you doing?" Anya hissed. Her fear had returned full-force at the sight of her friend in such a dangerous position, although part of her couldn't help being impressed as well. If anyone came in, if anyone saw, both of them would be worse than dead.

"Getting you out of that cage," Raven said, stepping further into the room and looking around curiously. "I’m still not too familiar with your culture, but when somebody saves your life, my people say thank you, by the way.”

"How did you even get in here without alerting the guards?" Anya asked, still in disbelief. "And how did you get those clothes?"

"Swiped a guard's ID, snuck into the storage room. There are plenty of spares in there. Guess they want to make sure nothing gets contaminated." She wrinkled her nose in disgust as she knelt beside the door of the cage, fiddling with the lock. "Although if they're that concerned, they should clean this place. It smells like piss."

 _Like death_ , Anya thought, but didn't say. " _Reivon,_ we cannot simply run," she said, letting her eyes drift nervously toward the door. "Even if we escape these cages, the _Maunon_ will catch us. It's impossible to hide such a large number of people—"

"Right," Raven agreed. "That's why I'm only letting you out." Anya began to protest, but the _Skayon_ clearly already had an argument prepared, and she launched into it immediately. "If they find out you're really an alpha, you're done for anyway, right?"

Anya nodded. It was true. She would be turned into a monster like all the other alphas, a _Ripa_ with no memory or morals. A fresh shudder coursed down her spine at the mere thought.

"So we have to get you out of here before you start to stink, or Little Anya decides to show up. Don't think I didn't notice how terrified you were in decontamination. If I can sneak you out, you can be my eyes and ears in this place while we try to think of a plan."

"You have your own eyes and ears," Anya said. "Why use mine?"

"Because they _want_ us for something, me and my friends. You heard how that doctor was talking. We're special to them somehow. They probably won't notice one missing Grounder, but we're over in some kind of sterile hospital wing. They'll definitely notice if I'm gone for more than a few minutes, and I don't wanna think about what'll happen when they do."

"So you are going back," Anya whispered, already resigned. "That is brave of you, _Reivon kom Skaikru._ Probably also foolish."

"Probably." She grunted in satisfaction, and Anya heard the sound of something clicking. A moment later, the lock snapped open. "You want to save me and the rest of your warriors? Get me a radio from one of the guards, and make sure you don't get caught."

The door swung open, and Anya's heart lept. Here was her chance at freedom, even if it was only from the cage. She clambered out to join Raven, but turned to look back at the betas who had been caged with her. _"Sen ai in,"_ she ordered, hoping they would listen in their fearful state. _"Taim gona na ban gonakru op? Ai na kom yo daun.”_

That seemed to bring them some relief. There were a few weak smiles, and no one objected as she closed the cage door again. Then, she turned to Raven. Before she could do anything else, the _Skayon_ seized her in a fierce hug, nearly crushing her ribs. On impulse, she hugged back, not sure what she was doing, but feeling instant relief at the touch as well as the beta's scent. She had no idea why Raven made her feel at ease, even in such terrifying circumstances, but she did know one thing—when Raven had come to free her from the cage, she had never been so glad to see anyone else in her entire life.

After a moment, Raven let her free, then handed her the keycard with a crooked smile. “Use this to get out of here, head to the supply closet down the hall, and then ditch it in there when you’ve gotten some clothes. Make sure you get a hat, and keep your head down wherever you go, because there’s cameras on the walls.” The beta pointed up at a device embedded in the wall, that looked like a dull, unblinking black eye. “Try not to let those see your face, or they’ll know you’re not supposed to be here.”

Anya nodded, her mind racing with everything she wanted to say, but she knew there wasn’t time. All she could say, as they paused at the door, was, “Be safe.”

Raven nodded, her eyes shining. “You too.” After a moment’s hesitation, she held out her arm, and Anya clasped it. “May we meet again.”

The alpha nodded. “May we meet again.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Trigedasleng:**
> 
> _Hashta soulou gonplei, bilaik won hedon en noumou: du souda wan op deyon. Yo na jomp in:_ In single combat, there is but one rule: one of you must die today. You may begin.
> 
>  _Ai laik Heda:_ I am the Commander.
> 
>  _Heda na kik raun feva:_ Long live the Commander!  
>  _Gonakru:_ war-band, group of warriors  
>  _Oso nou na fir raun:_ We will not be afraid  
>  _Oso ste gonakru kom Trikru:_ We are warriors of the Tree Clan  
>  _Oso nou fir Maunon raun, en oso nou fir wamplei raun:_ We do not fear the Mountain Men, and we do not fear death.  
>  _Sen ai in:_ Listen to me  
>  _Taim gona na ban gonakru op:_ When does a warrior leave her band?  
>  _Ai na kom yo daun:_ I will return for you.


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Rae here. Hope you enjoy the chapter. ^^ We've got lots of plot incoming for the next several chapters, but this one has some sex.
> 
> Be sure to follow us on tumblr @raedmagdon and @n1ghtwr1ter.
> 
> [](http://s558.photobucket.com/user/calfaolan/media/green78%20-%20twon%20cover_zpskkb485uj.jpg.html)  
> 

****Raven had made the plan sound simple and easy, but in Anya’s experience, few plans ever truly were. As soon as they parted, Raven heading for the upper floor and Anya making her way toward the storage room, hugging the wall and keeping her head down as she’d been instructed, her experience was borne out. Turning the corner, the alpha nearly ran right into a pair of guards. Both were betas, but one of them was cringing as the other gave him a dressing-down. Only her quick reflexes allowed her to reel back just in time and drop into a crouch. Carefully, she peeked around the wall, listening to their conversation.

“What do you mean, you _lost_ it? How do you lose your ID badge? It’s supposed to be clipped to your belt at all times!” the older of the two guards shouted. Anya’s gaze dropped to the plastic card in her hand, noticing that there was a small, blurry picture of someone in its center, next to a bunch of unintelligible letters and numbers and a strange arrangement of lines, all in a square. From what she remembered, Raven had held that particular portion of the card up to the scanner, and the door had hissed open, allowing her access. _That must be what they use to get into the parts of this prison with higher security._

Anya clutched the card tighter in her fist. She knew Raven had said she should get rid of the card, but what if she needed to get somewhere that had restricted access? No, this would be best. If the guard could convince his superior that he had simply lost the card, and neither of them became suspicious that it had been stolen, it could be a valuable asset to have. For now, though, she just had to wait until they got out of her way.

 _Or until I_ make _them get out of my way,_ she thought, turning back to the two men. Just looking at them, with their plump, self-satisfied faces and their soft skin, made her alpha snarl in her chest, eager for their blood. _This is how they live. They always have enough food to eat; their hands do not know hard work; and they capture our people and turn us into monsters and do_ Keryon _knows what with the rest…_

But even as her temper flared, she took a few soothing breaths to calm herself down. _No. Killing these men will not solve anything. The_ Maunon _will know you are loose in their fortress, and they will come after you much sooner._ She knew that she had no chance of remaining undiscovered permanently, but the fact that she had not yet been detected was an important benefit. Throwing it away because her alpha wanted vengeance would be beyond foolish.

And so she waited, listening as the older guard told his subordinate what an idiotic piece of shit he was, and how he was going to turn this facility upside down until he found his ID badge, and _no_ he most certainly was not just going to get another one, he was going to have to wait at doors until somebody was kind enough to let him through. “And if that badge isn’t found by the end of the day today,” he finished, nearly shouting, “I’m gonna go straight to Emerson and you’re gonna have to deal with him.”

The face of the other man—well, he was hardly more than a boy—paled. “No, please, I promise I’ll find it, I swear!”

“Good,” sneered the older beta. “You’d better. Because I’m a real sweetheart compared to Emerson. Now go!” The younger guard scurried off, luckily in the opposite direction. The older one snickered to himself for a moment, then strolled on—right toward Anya.

The alpha frantically scanned her surroundings for an alcove, an open door she could duck into, anything—but there was nowhere to hide. She was going to have to face the guard and either take him down, or let herself be captured. And there was no way she could allow the latter. Too many questions would be raised about how she had escaped, and whether she had any accomplices, and it would put Raven in jeopardy. There was nothing for it. Mustering her strength, she prepared to lunge.

As soon as the guard turned the corner, Anya made her move. Throwing herself into a roll, she managed to get behind him. Before he’d even had time to react, she’d gathered herself into a crouch and launched her body into the air, landing on his back. He staggered and let out a choked-off cry, but didn’t get any further than that. Her hands went around his neck, wringing the life out of him one missed gulp of air at a time.

He was big and bulky and wearing body armor, and Anya was hyper-aware of the metal rod digging painfully into her hip—a stun baton, just like the ones she had seen in the dungeon down below. If he managed to free himself long enough to grab it and use it on her, her fight would be over in a matter of seconds. She could not take that chance. She had to change her tactics.

But the guard recovered from his initial shock before she could figure out how. Gasping for air, he managed to stumble over to the wall and slam her back against it, hard enough to knock the wind out of her. She managed to hang on the first couple of times he did it, but the third time, her head hit the cold concrete, and her grip loosened enough for him to shake her off. She dropped to the floor, ears ringing, sparks going off behind her eyes, her inner alpha roaring at her to _Gyon op! Yu gonplei nou ste odon!_ But she could hardly see, let alone stand.

She was certain that any moment the guard would be back on his feet, and that she’d hear the buzzing of the stun baton charging up, but when her vision began to clear she saw that he was still on his knees, gasping and rubbing at his throat where the purple imprints of her fingertips had bloomed. Her eyes narrowed. She was not going to miss this chance. Staggering to her feet, she made her way over to him one dragging step at a time, ignoring the ache in her ribs. The guard noticed her when she was about halfway there and stared at her, wide-eyed, mouthing words—pleas? Curses? Anya couldn’t tell and didn’t care. He put his hands out weakly to ward her off, and she batted them away easily so she could reach out and, with one swift, brutal motion, snap his neck.

The guard's fight was over in an instant. His body jerked and his eyes glazed over in pain, lips moving in silent, agonizing shapes. Instinctively, Anya covered his mouth to make sure he wouldn't scream. Snapped neck or no, he wouldn't die for several minutes if she left him this way. Never had she wished more for her knife. The quickest, neatest way to kill someone was to drive a blade into the base of the brain. Instead, she would have to wait, or find something sharp—and she couldn't do it here, out in the open. Her only other option was to bang his head repeatedly against the floor or the wall, and that was sure to attract attention, as well as make a mess.

Thinking quickly, she decided to smuggle the guard's body back to the room where her people had been imprisoned. The more she thought about it, the better the idea seemed. If she left the man here, surely someone would realize she had escaped. Perhaps by leaving him among the cages that held the rest of her warriors, she could buy a little more precious time. She hauled herself to her feet and dragged the _Maunon's_ limp form back the way she had come, trying her best to conceal herself from the all-seeing eyes of the cameras.

She didn't encounter anyone else on the way, much to her relief. Within a few moments, she had made it back to the relative safety of the prison room, the guard still in tow. There were gasps and murmurs from the occupants as she entered, but they quieted as she dropped the guard against one of the cages and held up a hand for silence. Then, she set about the ugly task of ending his life. Cutting off someone's flow of oxygen normally took several minutes. It felt like an eternity that she kept her fingers tight around the guard's throat, but his snapped neck had already weakened him. He passed out in an instant, and his heart stopped beating shortly after.

Once it was done, she started stripping him. His uniform would be large on her, but she didn't have many other options. She couldn't keep sneaking around the Mountain in the scratchy, ill-fitting white bandages they had wrapped her in. It was a risk, taking his clothes, but hopefully, the other _Maunon_ would assume he was some kind of pervert, caught with his pants down. _I wouldn't put it past these_ jokas _to abuse their prisoners. From the way he took that boy to task, perhaps this one isn't well-liked..._

She hoped so. Otherwise, her people might pay the price for her kill.

Trying not to think about the potential consequences, she put on the guard's uniform and familiarized herself with his belt. On one side was the stun baton, as well as what looked to be a small bottle of some sort. Her thumb fit neatly over the top, and she suspected that if she pressed down, something unpleasant would spray out. On the other side was a small black box, and her heart leapt as she pulled it out to examine it more closely. From the examples she had seen in Raven's 'workshop' back at the dropship, she knew this had to be the radio. Instead of touching the buttons and turning the knobs, she tucked it back into the belt with a shaking hand. If their luck held, this strange little box might be their ticket to freedom.

* * *

Clarke stared down at Lexa's face, amazed at how soft its contours appeared while she slept. During the fight, the alpha's jaw had been firm, her eyes glinting like sunlight on metal and her teeth bared for blood—but like this, she looked so different. Peaceful. Young. For some reason, Lexa always seemed so much older than she actually was while playing the part of the Commander.

_Playing a part. That's it, isn't it? That's her life._

Although they had only known each other for a little over a week, Clarke was certain she was right. Perhaps it was their mating bond that allowed her to see the truth so clearly, but she had no doubts: Lexa the woman was a completely separate entity from _Heda_ , the alpha, the Commander, and the transformation took a toll.

She reached out to stroke back a strand of Lexa's hair away from her forehead. It was still covered in a light sheen of sweat, but she seemed to be sleeping comfortably. Only the vivid black stripes around her neck made Clarke worry. She had never seen bruises that color before, although the healer who had looked over Lexa's injuries before she had passed out in bed hadn't seemed concerned.

The casual way the beta had tended to Lexa's injuries, as if they were nothing serious or unusual, had almost made Clarke bristle. Lexa had risked her life—had almost lost it—and no one else seemed to care. It was almost as if everyone had considered her victory to be inevitable. Clarke had even overheard Indra muttering something about _Heda_ getting sloppy as she had helped Lexa stagger out of the ring. It had been a joking comment, and Lexa had smiled after receiving it instead of being offended, but Clarke couldn't let it go so easily.

_Does anyone else even care about her? Her first mate's dead. She hasn't mentioned any family. Anya's her only friend that I know of, and now she's in the Mountain..._

With a sudden, sinking feeling, Clarke began to wonder if she was the only person Lexa had left. She knew leaders often led lonely lives. Her mother certainly had after her father's death, and Lexa didn't seem like the type to cultivate a lot of close relationships. And yet, she had welcomed and accepted Clarke so quickly, had fought to protect her at every turn, and had placed a remarkable amount of trust in her, even though they had only been mated a short time. Their connection grew stronger by the day, and it was starting to frighten her.

 _What if I'm the only one? The only one in the world right now who cares about Lexa and not just_ Heda? _The only person who would have mourned if she died today, instead of just shrugging and moving on to pick the next Commander?_

Tears pricked her eyes at the thought. While she knew it was theoretically possible that Lexa had a family back in Polis or in another small village like Tondisi, she found it hard to believe that in the week that they’d spent together, the Commander wouldn’t have mentioned them even once. She’d definitely complained about her mother’s controlling behavior numerous times, and Lexa had listened patiently, only interjecting with tempered, well-reasoned advice. Guilt stirred in her as she remembered her ranting sessions about Abby’s controlling behavior. Lexa knew so much about her, had been so patient and kind and gentle with her, and she knew so little about her mate…

Swallowing hard, she picked up a cloth from a pile on the nightstand and dipped it in a bowl of water, wringing it out before beginning to swipe gently across Lexa’s forehead. The work would serve to focus her away from her guilt and sadness, and would help her feel that in some small way, she was taking care of Lexa too. _Cleaning her up after a fight isn’t much, but it’s a start._

After clearing the alpha’s brow of sweat, she began to draw the cloth across the sharp contours of her cheekbones and down along the lean line of her jaw. When she reached the spot where Clarke’s mating bite stood out, almost a glowing white in the dimness of the room, she wiped it tenderly, and then, after a moment’s hesitation, reached around to do the same for the faded mark left by Costia. She didn’t know Lexa’s previous mate, but it was clear from the few times the alpha had spoken of her that she’d been extremely important to Lexa, and if she had been dear to the Commander’s heart once, then she was dear to Clarke’s as well.

Upon reaching Lexa’s neck, she moved the cloth very gingerly across the imprints of Quint’s fingers. She hated the dark marks and wished she could just scrub them away somehow, but that would be impossible. Instead, she kept a wary eye on her patient, hyper-alert to the slightest twitch that might indicate she had caused Lexa pain, but the alpha just slept on. When she had finished with that portion of Lexa’s body, she breathed a sigh of relief.

The next breath she took, however, was a near-gasp of appreciation. Lexa had elected not to dress before retiring, simply stripping off her dirty, sweat-stained clothes and armor and leaving them in a heap on the floor before dropping into bed and falling asleep almost instantly. Obnoxious as the habit might have been, Clarke hadn’t given her shit about it. The woman had almost died today, after all. Now she got to look at Lexa, laid out in all her glory, and that nearly stole Clarke’s breath in its entirety.

But she had a job to do, trivial though it might have been, and so she forced herself to ignore the sculpted cords of muscle in Lexa’s neck and abdomen, the lean, powerful bands in her arms and thighs, the powerful pecs just above her firm, high breasts… _Jesus, Griffin, focus!_ Shaking herself, she drew the cloth across the alpha’s well-defined collarbones, toweling off any sweat that might have collected in the hollow between her neck and shoulders, and tried not to think about how she’d much rather be laving those droplets of sweat from Lexa’s body with her tongue.

To her credit, she managed to wash Lexa's arms without making any embarrassing noises that might have woken her slumbering mate. She ran the cloth along one lean, corded bicep, then the other, taking the time to massage some of the tension from Lexa's callused palms as she went. The alpha's fingers were surprisingly long, and Clarke swallowed, trying not to think too much about the way they felt inside of her.

 _Get it together,_ she told herself. _You're acting like you're in heat all over again, and it isn't cute._ And yet, it was something more than that. She desperately wanted to touch Lexa, but also to comfort her. She didn't just want to fuck Lexa, but to...

"You said _niron_ meant loved one, didn't you?" Clarke whispered. She circled the cloth back to the center of Lexa's chest, swiping the area between her breasts. Both nipples hardened, puckering to stiff peaks, and Clarke found herself torn between desire and tenderness once more. Even stranger, she couldn't tease them apart any longer. _So, what if I'm... falling in love with her? Can I call it that?_

She looked down at Lexa's face, still soft with sleep, and her heart gave a lurch. _Okay. So maybe I'm starting to have feelings for her. That's normal, right? She's my mate. Is this just hormones? The bonding? Would I still have fallen in...whatever...with her if I'd gotten to spend more time with her before we bit each other?_

But there was no point in asking those questions. Bites couldn't be taken back, and decisions couldn't be unmade.

 _Maybe I'm lucky,_ Clarke thought, swirling the cloth in slow circles over Lexa's chest. _My life has been shit for the past couple of years, and especially the past couple of weeks. It would be dumb to throw away one of the only good things that's happened to me lately, right? So if she meant it... and I feel it too... maybe we should just go with it? Maybe I'm finally getting lucky._

Lexa released a soft groan, shifting beneath the covers. Her legs spread, as if to make room, and Clarke couldn't help staring as the tangled sheets around her lower half began to tent. "Very lucky," she muttered as she admired the swiftly growing bulge. She checked Lexa's face, but to her surprise, the alpha remained fast asleep. It appeared that her mate was still exhausted, even if her cock wasn't.

 _It's an involuntary reaction,_ Clarke told herself. _I was messing with her tits, and she did just fight another alpha to the death. Those two things together are probably enough to give any alpha a hard-on._ But that didn't stop her from peeling away the furs for a better look. Lexa's shaft was extended almost all the way, and she made a noise of what almost sounded like relief as Clarke uncovered it. A drop of wetness was already gathered at the tip, and the vein that ran along one side of the heavy length pulsed.

Clarke bit her lip, torn about how to proceed. She knew Lexa needed to rest, but the ache growing between her own legs wouldn't be denied. And more than that, she wanted to see Lexa's eyes. _I want her to open them. I want her to look at me like she did before she stepped into the ring. Like I’m the most beautiful thing she's ever seen._

She continued to vacillate between care for Lexa’s poor, tired body and the increasing demands of her own, until she came to a revelation: _She can't be comfortable like this. How well can she really be sleeping with this…problem?_ Not that it was really a problem, she thought as she studied her mate’s gently throbbing length. _At least for me, it’s the opposite of a problem_. Although, she couldn’t help noticing Lexa's expression had grown somewhat strained, suggesting that the alpha was not resting quite as easily as before.

 _Well, I made this problem. It'd be selfish of me not to…take care of it. Just think of it like a massage. Yeah. People like waking up to massages, right? And then when she finishes, I’ll put her right back to sleep for real._ Licking her lips, she climbed onto the furs beside Lexa, wrapping her fist gently around the thick base.

As soon as her fingers touched her mate's shaft, it jumped in her hand, making Clarke gasp. Her breath coming a little quicker, she gave Lexa's cock a slow, luxurious pump, waiting to see if it would be enough to make her lover’s green eyes open. Had the alpha been awake, Clarke knew the motion would have drawn forth a low groan, but Lexa was so deeply asleep that it only elicited a quiet sigh. The Commander’s heavy length twitched in her hand, sending the bead of fluid rolling down the shaft and onto her fingers.

Clarke bit her lip again to stifle a whine. She had expected Lexa to stir, but although her mate’s body was responding, her eyes remained miraculously shut. Her mouth ached all of a sudden to taste Lexa, to feel the wetness dripping across her hand spilling onto her tongue, but Lexa was still fast asleep. _She must be exhausted,_ she told herself, although her inner voice had grown somewhat shakier. _I didn’t know someone could actually sleep through a handjob._

Attempting to ignore her own urges, Clarke redoubled her efforts, sliding her hand from the base of Lexa's shaft to the tip and swiping her thumb along the underside, where she knew her lover was especially sensitive. Every time she did so, fresh pearls of wetness emerged from the slit to pool at the tip, until they rolled over the edge and down along Clarke's hand. Soon, both her fist and the alpha's cock were coated in slickness, and Clarke was practically panting for a taste. _Okay, this is getting kind of ridiculous. I can’t believe she hasn’t woken up yet. Maybe this was a bad idea. Maybe I should stop and just let her rest..._

Darting a glance at the Commander's face, she noted that while Lexa still hadn’t awakened, she wasn’t entirely unaffected by Clarke's ministrations. The alpha's face had pulled itself into tight lines and sharp angles, and her eyes were moving quickly under their lids, making her lashes flutter. Her mouth hung open, and her chest heaved with rapid breaths, every so often punctuated by a quiet whine. Clarke could feel her mate’s cock throbbing in her hand, and the fluid running from its tip had increased to a steady stream. Every time her hand reached the base of Lexa’s shaft, it met with more and more resistance. The alpha’s knot had begun to inflate, and Clarke could feel it pounding with unreleased pressure.

 _She has to be close,_ Clarke realized, captivated by the tableau before her: the proud alpha lying before her, every muscle in her body drawing tighter and tighter, her hips twitching with the subconscious urge to thrust. Clarke felt her inner walls clench at the thought of how those hips would feel between her thighs, thrusting powerfully into her, the thick length in her hand inside of her instead, filling her, preparing to spill inside of her…

Just when she was seconds away from climbing onto the bed and touching Lexa’s face to wake her, the alpha awoke with a gasp, half-sitting abruptly. Clarke abandoned her movements, although not her grip, in favor of reaching out with her other hand to soothe her mate, stroking her hair and her face and murmuring, “Shh, shh, Lexa, it’s all right, I’m here, you’re safe...”

Lexa’s eyes were wild, flickering around the room, but eventually they came to settle on Clarke. “Clarke…” she croaked, her voice still unnaturally hoarse. “What are you…why is…”

In lieu of an answer, Clarke pumped Lexa’s shaft once more, slowly and luxuriously. The effect was immediate—the alpha’s head tipped back and she let out a loud groan, every muscle in her neck standing out. Clarke couldn’t help but grin. That was the response she had been hoping for all along. Touching Lexa while she slept had been fun, but it felt so much better to do it while her lover was awake and able to enjoy herself. “You had a problem, Lexa,” she said, nearly purring, “and I’m taking care of it. Relax, okay? Let me take care of you, and then you can go back to sleep.”

Lexa's head snapped back down to look at what was happening, her eyes still wide with confusion, but rapidly clouding over with desire. After a moment of consideration, she gave Clarke the barest of nods, lying back against the pillows and raising her hips with a quiet whine. Clarke’s heart soared. Having been granted the permission she had been seeking all along, she had no more reservations. She started stroking Lexa in earnest, enjoying the way the alpha's warm length pulsed against her palm.

"How long?" Lexa rasped, her hair spilling across the pillow. She couldn't seem to keep her head in one place, torn between tipping it back and craning her neck forward to watch.

Clarke cupped the side of her face, urging her to relax the muscles of her neck and stay still. The last thing she wanted was for Lexa to aggravate her injuries. "A while," she whispered, letting her lips skim Lexa's burning cheek. "I was trying to wake you up so you could tell me what you wanted, but you were really tired." _And maybe I got a little carried away..._

Any worries she had about overstepping her bounds were eased when Lexa gave her a sweet smile. "You've only been my mate for a week, and you're already taking such good care of me..." Something in Lexa's voice told Clarke that the alpha wasn't just referring to sex, but she didn't ask for clarification. Maybe she was reading into things, but it seemed like Lexa was almost...surprised? Touched? Her earlier suspicions that Lexa rarely, if ever, had anyone to take care of her seemed even more likely.

"I haven't taken care of you yet," Clarke said, trying to diffuse the heaviness of the moment. She gave Lexa's cock another slow stroke, squeezing until another rush of warm fluid drizzled over the tops of her knuckles. "Just relax. You...you deserve this, okay?"

To Clarke's delight, Lexa didn't object. Some of the strain on her face disappeared, and the forest-green shade of her irises swirled just a bit darker with need. Her body melted into the furs beneath her, and Clarke took that as her cue to continue. With Lexa awake, she felt no more hesitation. The desire to taste Lexa returned, twice as strong as before, and without overthinking it, she brought her lips to Lexa's collarbone, kissing beneath the black-striped bruises on her throat.

Lexa shivered at the first touch of her mouth, but her hiss seemed to be one of pleasure instead of pain. Clarke was even more certain that she had done something right when Lexa's fingers came to tangle in her hair, not pushing, but threading through the strands in an affectionate caress. Before Lexa could get a proper hold, Clarke began kissing down her body, dragging her tongue through the same sweaty hollow she had been admiring earlier. The salt of Lexa's skin was addictive, and she couldn't get enough.

Before she realized it, her lips were wrapped around the stiff peak of Lexa's nipple. The needy sounds coming from the alpha's throat drove her onward, and she swirled her tongue in circles, drawing the plump bud deeper. Lexa’s hips gave an unsteady jerk, and Clarke felt the ache between her own legs double. She kissed across to the other side, gently but urgently, but her mind was already much lower, imagining what it would be like to take Lexa’s cock into her mouth instead.

Eventually, her own need and her awareness of Lexa’s exhaustion won out over her desire to thoroughly explore her mate’s body. Shifting down on the bed, she settled herself between the alpha’s legs, barely containing her smirk as she watched Lexa’s eyes widen in sudden realization of what she was about to do. The cock in her hand was throbbing so hard that she couldn't imagine the alpha would last much longer. She had to decide where she wanted Lexa to come: in her hand, on her face or breasts, or in her mouth…

A whine escaped her at the last idea, and she knew instantly what she wanted. Much as she would have enjoyed both other methods, there was nothing quite like Lexa’s taste filling her mouth, spilling over her tongue and down her throat. Abruptly, she realized that she had started pumping Lexa’s shaft faster and faster in her excitement, and the alpha was responding to it: she'd spread her legs a little wider, her hips were pushing up into Clarke’s hand with each downward stroke, and low cries spilled from her mouth with every breath.

Clarke only allowed herself a moment to enjoy the Commander’s desperation before she lowered her head. She didn't waste any time with teasing, simply taking the head into her mouth and swiping her tongue along the fluid-filled divot, eagerly lapping up her mate’s addictive taste. Lexa groaned long and loud, her fingers tightening reflexively in Clarke’s hair. She knew the alpha must truly be desperate when the hand on her head began to exert slight pressure, gently encouraging her to slide her lips further along the shaft.

While ordinarily she might have discouraged such behavior, not wanting to be deprived of Lexa’s incredible flavor or rushed through such an intimate act, she knew that time was of the essence. Instead of resisting, she allowed Lexa to slowly push her head further and further down, focusing on breathing deeply and relaxing her throat to take more and more of the thick shaft. Lexa’s moans were growing louder, her cries more frantic, and her cock was pounding in Clarke’s mouth. It was clear that she was about to come, and Clarke couldn't wait. With her mouth was pressed to the top of her mate’s knot, she opened her eyes, flicking them up to level a burning stare directly at Lexa.

That did it. Lexa cried out, her hips giving one short, sharp jerk before her release began to explode from the tip of her cock, pouring down Clarke’s throat in heavy pulses. She moaned around the thick shaft filling her mouth, utterly captive to the sensation, but wishing she could taste some of her mate’s come on her tongue. Lexa seemed to sense her desperation, because she relaxed her grip on Clarke’s head, allowing the omega to let a few inches of her cock slip from her mouth. Clarke made a delighted noise as the thick jets hit her tongue, salty and sweet with just the right hint of bitterness. Eager to express her gratitude for her mate’s indulgence, she lashed her tongue along the head’s sensitive underside, encouraging a few more spurts and a louder groan.

The alpha’s orgasm eventually tapered off, to Clarke’s mixed disappointment and anticipation. As much as she'd enjoyed taking Lexa’s release, she was becoming increasingly aware of the urgent need between her own legs. She'd been hoping that Lexa might be able to help her take care of it, but when the alpha’s cock pulsed for the final time and her mate slumped back bonelessly against the pillows, she knew she couldn't ask that of her. All she could do was wait until Lexa was fast asleep again, and then take care of the problem herself...

Or so she thought. After a few deep gasps, Lexa's eyes opened once more. They were still slightly hazy with sleep, but she didn't look as though she were about to nod off at any moment. _"Maun op,"_ she murmured, gesturing at her lap. Even though the offer wasn't in English, it didn't take much for Clarke to figure out what Lexa had said. Her shaft was still hard and gleaming, pointing proudly toward the ceiling.

Still, she had some reservations. Lexa looked happy, but exhausted, and Clarke was worried about overtaxing her. "Are you sure?" She placed a few gentle kisses across Lexa's stomach, and the way the muscles there twitched reassured her that she wasn't entirely alone in her desire. "I don't want to wear you out..."

"Do not insult me, _Klark_ ," Lexa said, but her smile made it clear that she was teasing. "I would never leave my mate unsatisfied."

Although Lexa had used the word 'mate' in reference to her before, Clarke couldn't help wondering if it meant something more this time. The longer she stayed with Lexa, the more certain she was—they were forming a bond. This wasn't just a political alliance, or sex, or whatever else their people might think. It was something special, just for the two of them, and even though part of her was afraid, she wanted to find out what it would turn into.

"I will..." Clarke began, but she paused as Lexa began to smirk. Obviously, she was under the impression that she had won, until Clarke fixed her with a stern look. "... _if_ you promise to stay flat on your back and not move. I can do the work for both of us."

Lexa began to protest, but Clarke prowled up along her body, pressing their lips together and silencing her with a kiss. Lexa groaned into her mouth, and Clarke realized that she was tasting the lingering traces of her first orgasm. She deliberately stroked her tongue along Lexa's to share it before breaking the hot melt of their lips and sitting back on her heels. Kneeling above Lexa gave her the perfect view of her lover's lean body, and she was determined to enjoy it as she took her pleasure.

"Remember, stay still," she said as she scooted back, bringing her pelvis into alignment with the alpha's. Lexa's cock was still hard, and the knot at the bottom had already reached its full size. Clarke's inner walls clenched as she imagined how it would feel stretching her entrance, and she hurried to wrap her fingers around the upper part of the shaft. She wanted to sink down immediately, to take the broad head inside and savor each inch pushing inside, but instead, she let the tip drag through her folds, getting it slick.

It didn't take much. Thanks to the amount of time she had spent seeing to Lexa's needs, she was already dripping. Soon, Lexa's shaft and her own inner thighs were coated in sticky streams of wetness. Lexa reached for her hips with both hands, clearly impatient, but Clarke batted them away before they could find a grip. "What did I say?" she scolded, pushing down her own desire. Although she was growing more and more desperate to get off, this was surprisingly fun. She sincerely doubted the great Commander Lexa allowed herself to be ordered around often, and she was curious how far she could push.

 _"Joka,"_ Lexa grumbled under her breath, although it was clear she wasn't angry, only mildly annoyed.

"I don't know what you just called me, but I'm going to assume it was rude." Clarke tilted her pelvis, letting the very tip of Lexa's cock press against her opening. The slight touch sent sparks shooting straight to her clit, but she held off. "Is this what you want?" she purred, squeezing the slightest bit and hoping Lexa could feel it.

She could, if the pleased grunt that burst from the alpha’s lips was any indication.

"Then be good."

Lexa’s eyes sparked and a low growl rumbled through her chest, but when Clarke lifted herself up just a little bit, it tapered off into a whine. Grinning with her tongue between her teeth at her easy control over the alpha, she rubbed herself along Lexa’s length another couple of times, just to make certain it stuck. She could see the Commander’s hands tightening in the fabric of the sheets, and it made her smirk a little wider. But she could no longer deny her own need, and so she reached between her own legs and grasped Lexa's cock, positioning it at her entrance.

She couldn’t help moaning as she began to press down, willing her inner muscles to relax enough to accept the hard, dripping head of Lexa's cock. The stretch had grown more familiar over time, but it was still enough to take her breath away. But she was desperate to have her mate inside of her, filling her, so she persisted. Finally, after an embarrassing whimper of frustration, the crown popped inside of her, and she let out a satisfied sigh as several hot, thick inches followed.

It wasn’t long until she’d managed to take Lexa all the way to her knot. Briefly overwhelmed, she fell forward, shutting her eyes and bracing herself against the alpha's chest. She allowed herself a moment to both revel in and get used to the utter fullness. _God, she feels so good, so big… I don’t think I’ve ever felt so full…_ Her inner walls gripped and fluttered around the alpha's hard shaft as she struggled to adjust to the sensation. But while she didn’t want to give up any of Lexa's thickness, she could feel her clit twitching against the alpha's knot. She badly needed to come, and that meant she needed to move.

When she opened her eyes, the heat between her legs doubled and she clenched around the shaft filling her. Lexa's eyes were squeezed tightly shut, her breath coming in short, sharp pants as she struggled against her instincts to thrust up into Clarke's pussy. The alpha was truly a beautiful sight, every muscle in her body straining and taut, her chest heaving with muted sounds that were halfway between a growl and a whine. Momentarily entranced, Clarke thought she could have watched Lexa this way for a while longer, but such restraint deserved a reward.

Leaning back again, Clarke began a slow, steady rocking motion, clenching her inner walls rhythmically around Lexa's cock and grinding her clit against the alpha's twitching knot. Every time she did, she heard Lexa hiss out a breath, her fists clenching reflexively against the urge to grip Clarke's hips, to force her to begin sliding up and down her length, to increase the pace and friction. But as much as she enjoyed the sensation of Lexa losing control, pounding into her with pure animal force, right now she was reveling in her complete and total control over her mate's pleasure and her own.  

When Lexa's eyes opened again, her look was pleading. A soft whine came out of her mouth, and she lifted her hips very gently, begging Clarke to go faster without words. While she was prepared for her mate's defiance, she could not refuse Lexa's submission. Bracing herself on her knees, she began raising herself up and off her mate's cock. She mourned the loss of each inch that slipped out of her, but the burning stretch she knew would come was well worth it. Once she’d reached the head again, she forced herself to wait, quivering with the effort it took. Then, when she was certain Lexa’s strained, twitching hips would remain on the mattress, she slid back down.

Twin groans tore from both of them as their bodies joined once more. Clarke felt the ring of muscle at her entrance start to spread as soon as she touched the top of Lexa's knot, and this time, she didn't resist. She wanted to be full, to take Lexa to the very hilt. With a few short jogs of her hips, she managed to work herself onto the broad base, gasping and clawing at the edges of Lexa's thighs as her entrance finally sealed around the other side. For a moment, she couldn't continue moving—couldn't even breathe. Lexa was seated so _deeply_ within her, stretching her inner walls almost to the point of pain, but the thickness caused a beautiful sort of burning.

"Lexa," she gasped, unable to form any other words. All thoughts of teasing flew from her mind, and all she could focus on was the peak rapidly building inside of her. She needed to come, but even more importantly, she needed to come _for Lexa._ Somehow, the distinction was important.

 _"Klark..."_ Lexa began to roll her hips ever so slightly, not in an attempt to take control of the rhythm, but simply to help. Her green eyes shone with home, as if she were waiting to be granted permission, and this time, Clarke didn't have the heart to deny her. She reached down, taking hold of Lexa's hands and wrapping them around her hips to let her know it was all right. Together, they started a slow, gentle swaying motion, rocking as one, breathing in sync, clutching tight at each other's hands the whole time.

"Oh god, Lexa," Clarke muttered. Her words returned in a breathless stream, and her muscles tugged and tightened around the heavy, straining knot nestled within her. "Fuck, I—I'm gonna come. Please... please come with me..."

 _"Sha..."_ Lexa's eyes her in from below, searing her skin wherever they wandered. _"Jok, ai gaf fil yu op. Yu na ste krei meizen taim y’na fulop."_

Even though Clarke couldn't understand what the words meant, the passion and sincerity behind them was clear as day. Combined with the soft look of love shining in Lexa's eyes, it was more than enough to send her hurtling over the edge. The tense string winding tighter and tighter within her finally snapped, and her body gave a deep shudder as her peak broke over her. It was deep and powerful, like the surging swell of an ocean, but not a violent storm. Every pulse brought sweet waves of relief, and she let out a deep groan of contentment as the pleasure washed out from between her legs to the very tips of her fingers and toes.

Lexa was only a split second behind. Her mate's knot give one last twitch within her, and both of them cried out in pleasure as a surge of come splashed against Clarke’s inner walls, pumping her deepest places full of warmth. The flood of heat drew out the ripples of her climax, and Clarke clutched desperately at Lexa's hands, holding onto both of them for dear life. She was no longer riding the waves, but floating out in the vast emptiness of space, suspended in a silent, timeless place where nothing else existed. Nothing except for her and Lexa—the only thing tethering her. The only thing that mattered.

When she touched down into her own body again, she realized that their shared climax had tapered off into aftershocks. Lexa was still emptying inside her, but weakly, with soft little pushes of her hips accompanied by low, sleepy moans. Her green eyes were clouded, and Clarke couldn't help smiling fondly at the faint line of fresh sweat that had broken out on her brow. Even though she had done most of the work, she could tell her lover was exhausted.

"It's okay," she murmured, releasing Lexa's hands at last and bending down to frame her hot face. "I've got you." Kiss. "Thank you." Kiss. "Thank you so much." Kiss. "For fighting for me, for taking care of me—"

"I think you took care of me," Lexa panted against her lips. "You're better for a broken body than any healer."

Clarke smirked, about to make a smart comment to lift the thick blanket of emotion that seemed to lie over both of them, but she never got the chance. A brilliant light flashed, filling the window to the left of Lexa's bed and streaming into the room. Clarke turned in surprise, squinting her eyes. Whatever it was, it was bright enough to fill the dark night sky. Her vision adjusted quickly, and she gasped in shock. A white streak shot through the blackness, hurtling down toward the horizon line.

Beneath her, Lexa did the same. _"Trigplei skaifaya,_ " she murmured. Clarke turned to her in confusion, and she corrected herself. "A shooting star." A shy smile spread across her face, making Clarke’s heart melt all over again. "Our people consider them to be signs of good fortune. After all...one brought you to me.”

Clarke tried to roll her eyes and groan, to tell Lexa what a sap she was, but her throat was unexpectedly thick. All she could do was lean forward again and press a gentle, lingering kiss to her lover’s lips. They stayed like that for a moment, bathed in the falling star’s brilliance, although it didn't hold a candle to the glow Clarke felt in her chest. She was here, entwined with her mate, with this amazing woman who felt like _home,_ even they'd scarcely met a week ago. But right now, that didn't seem to matter. For the first time since Clarke had fallen from the sky, it felt like everything was going to be all right.

 _Fallen from the sky…_  Clarke turned to look out the window again, a sudden, sickening dread rising from her gut. Instead of dimming as it rounded the curve of the earth, the light was only getting brighter, confirming what seemed impossible: the star was heading straight for the ground. "That's no shooting star," she said, scarcely able to believe it. All of the pleasant, languid exhaustion evaporated from her body, replaced with pure adrenaline. "I think...I think it might be the Ark."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Trigedasleng:**
> 
> _Gyon op! Yu gonplei nou ste odon:_ Get up! Your fight is not over!  
>  _joka:_ fucker/fuckers  
>  _Jok, ai gaf *fil yu op. Yu na ste krei meizen taim y’na fulop:_ Fuck, I want to fill you. You would be so beautiful if you were pregnant.


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! We hope you enjoy the chapter. ^^ Remember to follow us on tumblr @raedmagdon and @n1ghtwr1ter. N1ghtwr1ter changed their URL.
> 
> Also... we're sorry for the cliffhanger. >_>
> 
> [](http://s558.photobucket.com/user/calfaolan/media/green78%20-%20twon%20cover_zpskkb485uj.jpg.html)  
> 

****When she and Lexa finally came untied, Clarke emerged from the hut to find Tondisi in an uproar. The main portion of the Ark had landed in a field a few miles from the village, mercifully away from the forest. The first scouts on the scene reported seeing people stumble away from the wreck. When Clarke heard that as Indra briefed Lexa on the way to the stable, she had to take a moment to let out a muted scream of joy. The older alpha gave Clarke a very dirty look, but she didn’t care. There was a possibility, no matter how slim, that her mother had survived, and despite their disagreements, she wanted to believe it was true.

Other scouts reported that large pieces of the Ark had broken away before hitting the ground, and they were still tracking all of them, but Clarke couldn’t imagine that her mother wouldn’t be with the main body of the Ark. Where the most people were concentrated. Where there were more likely to be injured people that she could save. Clarke just prayed she wasn’t one of them. The thought of her mother's body lying broken in that field, finally on the ground for the first and the last time…

“Are you sure we can’t go faster?” she asked Lexa as they rode through the gates of the village. She was sitting with Lexa in order to facilitate just that, given that the alpha was a much better rider than any of the _Skaikru._ Bellamy had wanted to stay behind with Octavia, who still needed watching to keep her from going after Lincoln, but when Murphy had offered to keep an eye on her during the journey, he had relented and allowed them all to come along.

Finn was behind, but not far; he’d been having a lot of trouble staying on the horse, a fact that Clarke had noticed Lexa observing with no small amusement, but when she’d elbowed the alpha in the side she’d sighed, and assigned one of her warriors to make sure he could ride the animal properly. A larger portion of Lexa's army was following as well, to help with relief efforts, but also to contain the Sky People if need be. While Lexa hadn’t explicitly said so, you didn’t bring a large contingent of heavily-armed warriors with you without some expectation of trouble.

They were heading through the forest path at a steady—if bumpy—trot, and Clarke knew her ass was going to be one giant bruise when they arrived, but she couldn't help wanting to go fast her. Her mother was out there, either alive and possibly needing her help, or dying…

“We can't, I'm sorry,” Lexa murmured into her ear. “Too many miles between us and them, and if we want the horses to last…”  

“I know,” Clarke snapped, then turned to give the alpha a kiss under her chin in apology before leaning back to watch the trees roll past beside them.

The saddle was cold and hard beneath her, but she was grateful for the warm comfort of her mate’s arms, one hand holding the reins and one wrapped around her waist, steadying her. As much as she was happy that Lexa was with her on this, she was worried about the army at her back. She knew Lexa would make an honest effort to rescue as many of the Sky People as possible, but what happened when one of the Arkers, scared or injured, lashed out at one of the warriors who were there to help them? Clarke trusted that the Commander would do all she could to prevent war, but she also knew that Lexa’s first priority in all things was to protect her people.

 _I guess the question is…who counts as_ her people?

The lights of the fires from the Ark drew nearer, visible through the thinning treeline, and the closer they got, the further Clarke’s heart rose in her throat. When the advance guard drew to a halt at the edge of the forest, she turned to Lexa a bit desperately. What was there to say? What _could_ she say? _Don’t kill my mom and my people, even if they start attacking you? That they’re going to be scared and desperate?_

But then Lexa dipped her head and gave Clarke a swift but tender kiss. “You should go ahead of us. They’ll be less likely to react with aggression if they see a familiar face.”

Clarke's first instinct was to object. Being parted from Lexa again, especially in such a dangerous and volatile situation, felt incredibly wrong. Just the thought of Lexa's arm unwrapping from around her waist caused a lance of pain to shoot through her heart. But logically, she knew they both had their duties. _She has to lead her people, and I have to go save mine._ She turned in the saddle, mouth open to say...something...but she couldn't form the words. In the end, all she could do was nod and swallow down the declaration she had been on the edge of making.

Lexa seemed to understand. Her eyes were soft as she helped Clarke down from the horse, and her hand lingered as long as possible. "Be careful," she said, stroking the side of Clarke's cheek. "If you aren't back in a few minutes to tell us that _Skaikru_ will accept our help, my warriors and I will come in after you."

That promise wasn't as much as a relief as Lexa obviously intended for it to be. Instead, it provided Clarke with fresh incentive. If she didn't want Lexa's army trampling through the wreckage of the Ark and scaring the survivors of the crash, some of whom might be armed, she needed to negotiate a treaty, and fast. She reached up, squeezing Lexa's fingers with hers, and then drew them away from her face, turning and starting off into the night.

"You ready for this?" Bellamy asked, hurrying to catch up with her.

"Yeah. Are you?"

He gave her a firm nod, and the scent of his determination bolstered her courage. "I've got your back, Princess. We'll save who we can and get them in line with the program."

"What about Octavia?" Clarke asked, casting a brief look over her shoulder. Finn had made it down from his horse and was hurrying to catch up with them, but the omega wasn't with him.

"I told her to keep back," Bellamy said. "She's still mate-sick, and if she gets half a chance, she'll bolt to go looking for Lincoln. Murphy's with her. He doesn't want to get up close and personal with anyone from the Ark anyway."

For once, Clarke found herself agreeing with Bellamy's overprotective instincts. She had spent the past day and a half wrapped up in making sure Lexa stayed safe, but she wasn't oblivious. Octavia's behavior had been erratic at best, frightening and aggressive at worst. Being separated from Lincoln, with no sign of whether he was dead or alive, had clearly gotten to her. Glancing back, Clarke could see her standing beside Murphy, whispering and gesturing furiously. _Probably trying to convince him to let her go._

She shook herself. Octavia wasn't her primary concern right now. Her mother and the Arkers were. "Come on," she said, noticing that Finn had finally caught up. "Let's move and do what we can."

As they reached the edge of the treeline, Clarke was glad to see that there weren't a lot of fires burning. A few patches of ground still smoldered, and smoke hung heavy in the air, but it didn't seem like the entire forest was on the verge of burning down. A huge metal wheel jutted up from the ground, the broken backbone of the space station, and to Clarke's utter relief, people appeared to be moving around it. _Survivors. That means, maybe..._ She started running, not even bothering to make sure that Bellamy and Finn were following her. The only thing she could think about was seeing her mother again.

The sun was coming up over the crooked ridge of the mountains in the distance as they sprinted towards the Ark. Its light caught on the twisted, jagged edges of metal and glinted in Clarke’s eyes, but she just put her head down and kept running. As they neared, however, a lesser sheen caught her eye. She squinted, trying to make out what it was, and then Bellamy grabbed her arm. “What the fuck are you—”

He dragged her down into the grass, and not a moment too late. A shot cracked out across the field, its echoes reverberating in Clarke’s ears. She lay on her stomach for a moment, stunned, before turning to stare at Bellamy. His look was grim. “They’re on edge and expecting to be attacked. We can’t take any chances.”

Clarke’s breath caught in her chest. He was right. She’d been so eager to get to her mom, to make certain Abby was safe, that she’d forgotten her own advice, the reason she’d told Lexa to wait and let her make first contact with her people. Her face paled as she imagined what might have happened if the Commander had ignored her and chosen to go riding up to the very doors of the Ark at the head of her army. _The last time they saw us, we were being attacked. And they don’t know about the Mountain Men, so they must have thought it was the Grounders... Shit. I_ really _need to see my mom._

“We need some way to signal that we’re not hostile,” Bellamy said through gritted teeth.

Finn was rustling through the grass for something, and after a moment he pulled out a long stick. “Anybody got anything white?”

Bellamy’s undershirt, it turned out, was white – or it had been, before three weeks of blood and mud and sweat on the ground. But it was as close as they were going to get. Finn tied it as securely as he could to the stick, and then raised it shakily into the air. After a long pause, waiting breathlessly for the sound of another shot, Clarke said, “Okay, so…put our hands up and stand slowly, on three?” The other two nodded tersely. “One…two…three.”

“ _Clarke!”_

Abby’s voice, filled with panic and relief, sent a jolt of adrenaline straight through Clarke’s heart. She abandoned her slow rise to her feet and took off again, meeting her mother at the edge of the crash site and hurling herself into Abby’s arms.

“Mom, oh my god… I was so scared, I never thought I’d see you again…”

“I’m here, baby, it’s okay. Are you hurt? Is everyone—where is everybody?”

She stepped back, holding Clarke at arm’s length, as she took in the field behind her daughter, empty except for Bellamy and Finn, who were walking towards them. Clarke sighed. This was going to be difficult to explain. “It’s a long story, Mom, and it’s an important one, and I promise I’ll tell you very soon, but I need to speak to Chancellor Jaha. It’s urgent.” She stared, willing Abby to take her seriously as the leader she was on the ground, not the young, impressionable omega her mother seemed to think she still was.

Abby gazed at her for a while, her scent betraying something like concern and exasperation and sadness wrapped in one, before she pulled Clarke into another swift hug. “Jaha’s not the Chancellor anymore,” she explained when they parted. “I am.”

***

_Where is she?_

Lexa shifted uncomfortably on top of her horse, unable to quiet the fearful tingling that raced through every inch of her body. Her heart was pounding twice as fast as normal, and a cold sweat had broken out along the back of her neck, dripping down the furrow of her spine.

_She's taking much too long._

Her eyes scanned the edge of the treeline, waiting and watching, but there was still no sign of Clarke. Her mate had been gone for what felt like hours, even though she knew it had probably been only a few minutes at most, and the tension had her grinding her teeth together. She had to deliberately un-clench her jaw to stop the throbbing pain at the corners.

_I should go in after her..._

_"Chil yu au, Heda,"_ Indra said from beside her. The _wocha_ of Tondisi sat atop her own horse, with about a yard between them. For once, Indra’s expression didn't seem judgmental. In fact, it had softened with just the slightest bit of sympathy—a fact so surprising that it startled Lexa out of her brooding for a moment. Although she was loyal, Indra wasn't usually the type to offer comfort. "Your omega has proven herself resilient so far. She knows best how to deal with her own people. Have faith in her and give her time."

Lexa let out a long, whooshing breath, then nodded in agreement. _"Mochof,_ Indra. You sound like Anya today."

Indra gave her the barest of smiles. "I will take that as a compliment. Anya is a wise leader."

"It's difficult," Lexa admitted, after some hesitation. "My body aches. I want to be with her. To protect her. I can control it, but—"

"That is normal for one so newly mated," Indra said understandingly. "You are handling it better than most. That _Skayon,_   _Okteivia..._ she has true mate sickness. If she doesn't improve soon, she will probably need to see a healer. If he was taken by the Maunon, we all know _Linkon_ isn't coming back."

Lexa closed her eyes. She knew exactly what kind of grief the omega was experiencing. Costia's loss had driven her mad for several days before her duties had forced her to shove the pain deep, deep down. Being parted from Clarke made all those feelings rush to the forefront again. "We will get her the help she needs," she said, glancing over to the last place she had seen Octavia.

She was nowhere to be seen.

“Indra, I don't see her. Where is she?"

A surprised expression crossed Indra's face, but it quickly transformed into one of worry. "The one called Murphy was supposed to be guarding her. Something may have happened..."

 _"Mafta ai op,"_ Lexa said, dismounting her horse and passing the reins over to one of her nearby warriors. "We need to find her. This is a delicate situation, and she isn't in her right mind. If anything happens to her, _Skaikru_ might hold us responsible." _Not to mention Clarke will kill me if she finds out anything bad has happened to her friend._

 _"Sha, Heda."_ Indra dismounted as well, and the two of them strode off toward the place where Octavia had last been seen.

It seemed that in the brief time the _Skaikru_ omega had been mated to Lincoln, he’d had time to teach her some basic woodcraft. “She’s covered her tracks well,” Lexa murmured, scanning the ground where the meadow petered out and the forest began.

“Not well enough,” Indra said grimly, pointing at a set of marks that Lexa’s cursory examination had missed, bent blades of grass indicating a body being dragged.

“That answers what happened to Murphy,” Lexa muttered as they followed the trail.

They found the _Skaikru_ beta unconscious behind a tree, a lump slowly swelling on his forehead. After checking his breathing to make certain he would live, Lexa looked back at Indra, silently telling her to keep quiet and keep moving. After nodding her understanding, the younger alpha began making her way deeper into the forest, making sure to keep within sight of Indra, in case her general noticed something that she didn’t and tried to signal her.

It seemed, however, that after subduing Murphy, Octavia had chosen to sacrifice stealth for speed. Lexa picked up her trail easily, and soon she and Indra were jogging through the trees, pausing only to note the broken branches and disturbed logs that betrayed Octavia’s progress. _I think tracking my first boar was probably more difficult._

Lexa kept an eye on the sky as they moved through the twilit forest, the shadows beginning to give way to thin beams of light threading through the trees. She was a decent tracker herself, but she couldn’t hold a candle to Indra. She wasn’t sure how the older alpha had managed to pick up the trail, but she was content to follow Indra's lead. However, after confirming with a couple of familiar landmarks, she realized that Octavia's tracks were heading in the direction of the dropship.

Signaling Indra over to her, she relayed that information in a low murmur. “It makes sense,” Lexa whispered. “It’s the last place she would have seen him.”

Indra nodded, her jaw tight. Lexa felt for her. Lincoln had grown up in her village, and she had trained him herself, in part. Although the proud alpha would never let on, Lexa could tell from the stiff way she held herself, as though she were trying to keep from aggravating a hidden wound, that she felt Lincoln's loss keenly. But as Anya had taught her, _stedaunon gon we en kikon ste enti._ There were many dangers in the forest of which Octavia was most likely unaware, and even if she was, she’d be unprepared to handle them in her current half-mad state.

“If we take a more direct route to the dropship, we may be able to circle around it and cut her off from the north,” Indra said after a moment to collect herself. Lexa nodded.

“Just take care. She’s not much to look at but she might be able to get a good hit in if she surprises—”

A scream split the still air of the forest. Lexa pelted in its direction, Indra close on her heels, both of them making about as much noise as a _pauna_ in a tantrum. But the time for surprise was over. From the sound of Octavia's cry, someone—or something—had already beaten them to the punch.

She shoved past a snarl of leafy branches only to have her worst fears confirmed. The trees opened out a few yards ahead, and she had a clear view of Octavia, struggling in the grip of a huge man in ragged, bloodstained furs. He towered over her, covered in dirt and sweat, and his alpha stench was so sour and tainted that it took Lexa took several seconds to recognize him. It wasn't until she burst through the brush herself, sword drawn, that she realized who held Octavia.

_"Linkon! Chil yu daun!"_

The tall alpha turned toward her, and for a moment, she caught a glimpse of sadness in his dark brown eyes. Then his face hardened again, his upper lip peeling back over his teeth in a vicious snarl. The shreds of humanity vanished as quickly as they had appeared, and a low growl rumbled in his chest.

 _"Indra, shil Okteivia op,"_ Lexa barked, not even bothering to make sure Indra had heard her orders. She knew they would be obeyed. Instead, she charged forward, shoving Octavia back toward Indra and then spinning so that her body was between them and Lincoln. His gaze fixed on her, and a thick vein throbbed in his throat as he stared her down. His smell washed over her, strong enough to make her heart pound with terror and her blood turn to ice, but she didn't back away. She remained where she was, feet firmly planted.

"Fight it, Lincoln. You're a warrior of _Trikru_." She had no idea why she was trying to reason with a madman. No Reaper had ever shown even an ounce of humanity in her previous encounters with them, but perhaps if she was able to stall him long enough, then Octavia would not have to see her mate executed.

To her surprise, Lincoln responded. It was the first time she had ever heard a Reaper speak at all, and her eyes widened in shock. "You don't understand," he rasped, his voice cracking with despair. "I can't...fight it..."

"Yes, you can," Octavia said from behind her. Lexa didn't dare look away from Lincoln, but she knew what she would have seen if she turned around: Indra holding the omega back as she struggled toward her mate. _"We_ can. Do it for me. You can't just give up! Not when I've finally found you again..."

Lincoln shook his head. "No. The Red. I need—"

"You need to come home!" Octavia shouted, practically sobbing. "I don't know what they did to you, but you're stronger than this. _Ge smak daun, gyon op nodotaim._ Grounders don't give up. We _fight."_

This time, Lincoln gave no reply. He simply shook his head again, his eyes shining with pain and self-loathing.

"Then make your peace," Lexa said. _"Yu gonplei ste odon."_ She raised her sword, steeling herself for what needed to be done. If Lincoln wouldn't surrender and accept what limited help they could offer, she had no choice. It would be kinder to give him a clean death rather than allow him to return to whatever torments the Mountain had put him through.

 _“No!”_ Octavia screamed, struggling wildly in Indra’s grip. The madness brought on by her mate’s imminent death gave the omega the strength to break free, and she rushed at Lexa before the alpha had time to react, knocking her sword aside. At the same time, Lincoln charged with a feral roar; he’d been aiming for Lexa, but Octavia’s wild shove pushed them both out of his path. Instead, he fell upon Indra before she was able to bring her blade up, and they both toppled to the forest floor.

Lexa lunged forward with a snarl, attempting to knock Lincoln off of the general. But to her fury, Octavia clung to her arm, holding her back from coming to Indra's defense. Panic spiked in Lexa's chest as she stepped through the motions she’d need to break Octavia's grip. Reapers were dangerous to tackle with a properly-equipped war party; one-on-one, they were lethal. But Lexa needn’t have worried. There was a sickening crack, Lincoln let out a howl, and by the time she’d disentangled herself from Octavia, it was over. She turned to see Lincoln slumped to the ground, unconscious, with Indra on her knees at his side. The wound bleeding sluggishly on his head suggested that the general had hit him with the hilt of her sword, but she hadn’t escaped unscathed. Indra was clutching her arm to her chest, her face drawn in pain.

“Lincoln!”

Octavia rushed past, falling to her knees beside her mate. Lexa approached more slowly, her steps heavy and her face grave. “Octavia,” she said quietly, and felt her heart sting once more as the omega's tear-streaked face turned up to her. “I am sorry, but this must be done. He cannot come back from this. No one ever has. The best thing we can do for Lincoln is to give him a swift, painless death, and lay him to rest among his people.”

Octavia shook her head wildly. “No, _please!_ There _has_ to be something we can try, something that hasn’t been…” The _Skayon's_ voice trailed off, but her face lit up with determination. “Lincoln said something about the Red. Something he needs… Look, Clarke's mom is a doctor, a really good one! Maybe she can figure out what's wrong with him and fix him?”

Lexa quailed internally at the thought of turning up on Clarke's mother’s doorstep with a human turned monster in tow, asking her to heal him. _That would make a truly incredible first impression._ But she knew what Octavia did not: the danger and the futility of hope. “It has been tried before,” she said, doing her best to project both sympathy and certainty in equal measure. “No one survives. Either the Reaper kills their captors and escapes, or they die in chains. I have never seen it, but I have been told it's not a pleasant death.”

The scent of desperation pouring from Octavia grew even greater, but her jaw hardened. “I have to try,” she said, and then threw the upper half of her body across Lincoln's prone form protectively. “If you want to kill him, you'll have to kill me first.”

Lexa stared at the obstinate omega with mingled exasperation and admiration. _She needs to let go of this foolish hope, or his death will only hurt her more…but could I truly say that I would not do the same if it were Clarke in Lincoln’s place?_ She knew that the answer was no. But despite her newly-acquired respect for Octavia’s courage and devotion to her mate, she was also making Lexa’s life very difficult. It would be nearly impossible to end Lincoln’s suffering without also killing or badly injuring Octavia. There was no way Lexa could return to Clarke and explain how in the time they had been apart, she had managed to first lose track of and then kill her friend, as well as her friend’s missing mate.

But they couldn’t stay here, either. Lincoln would wake eventually, and with Indra injured and Octavia beyond reason, there was no way this would end well.

"Do you think you can do better for him?" Indra asked, looking down at Octavia with a serious scowl. Her expression was twisted in pain, but she spoke to the omega as an equal, as if she truly wanted to hear the _Skayon's_ opinion. _"Klark_ says some of your people are healers. Do you believe they can save him? Because if they cannot, the mercy _Heda_ offers is the kindest fate for your mate."

Octavia propped herself up over Lincoln's body, staring up at Indra with dark, tortured eyes. "I don't know if they can save him or not," she whispered, her voice trembling, "but I know I have to give them the chance to try. He's worth that much, isn't he?"

Lexa remained impassive as the omega's eyes fixed on her, daring her to disagree. If _Skaikru_ could turn Reapers back to men, that would change everything. _For generations, the Mountain has taken our warriors, but perhaps this time, we can bring one back._ After a long moment, she sheathed her sword, although she didn't relax her knotted muscles. "Very well. I hope your healers can do more for him than ours. _Indra, tai em op._ We bring him back to _Skaikru."_

"With what rope, Heda?" Indra asked, arching an eyebrow. “And with what arm?”

Lexa's face flushed. She had been so distracted with the present situation, as well as worry for Clarke, that she hadn't thought about the logistics. "The dropship isn't far from here," she said, gazing further into the woods. _Okteivia,_ do you think we will be able to find rope there?"

Octavia nodded. "We had all kinds of stuff at the ship." She glanced guiltily at Indra's arm. "If you promise not to kill him, I'll go and get some. I'm sure I can find it."

"And do you promise not to run away again?" Indra asked.

"Where would I run away to?" Octavia snorted. To Lexa's relief, she seemed to be coming back to her senses. "I went to find my mate. Now I've found him. The only thing I want is to get him to the people who can help him."

"Fair enough," Lexa said. "Indra will go with you. It's unlikely, but there might still be _Maunon_ near your dropship. I'll stay here until you return."

"Alone, _Heda?"_ Indra gave her a skeptical look, obviously not pleased with those orders, but Lexa stared her down.

"Yes. Alone. Besides, how much help would you be in fighting a _Ripa_ with your arm like that?"

"I already beat him once," Indra grumbled, but she seemed to concede the point. "Come, _Okteivia._ _Taim yu drag raun, taim yu ge ban au_. The faster we get that rope, the faster we can return to where we're needed."

Octavia rose, following Indra into the woods at a fast clip. Lexa remained behind, crouching beside Lincoln's still form and bracing her back against a tree, keeping her hand near the hilt of her sword just in case. He was still breathing steadily, but he seemed dead to the world. Perhaps this 'Red' he had been babbling about was the reason for his fragility, but she was grateful. Hopefully, he wouldn't wake until they managed to tie him up.

Getting him back would be another problem. With Indra's injury, she and Octavia would have to bear his weight. _Hopefully the possibility of rescuing her mate will fuel her strength... and hopefully we will return in time to help mine._

* * *

Clarke listened, torn between amazement and horror, as her mother described the process that had led to her election as Chancellor over Jaha. The video had cut out just after the side of the tent had blown inward, and the last image Abby had seen of her daughter had been of Lexa bearing her to the earth, a snarl on her face. Clarke winced inwardly—it had been a protective gesture, meant to shield her from any debris from the explosion, but of course it might have looked very different to her mother, orbiting the Earth 220 miles away and unable to come to her daughter’s aid.

Abby had demanded immediately that a heavily-armed advance party of the guard be sent to Earth in order to protect the 100, but Jaha had delayed and misdirected and stalled until she had reached the conclusion that he didn’t intend to do anything of the sort. “He talked a big game about _protecting our children,_ but it was obvious he saw you as disposable,” the alpha scoffed. “I think he saw pretty much everyone as disposable, after...”

“After Wells,” Clarke supplied, her best friend’s name still bringing a lump to her throat. However, she couldn’t help thinking, _You voted for us to be sent down here. You saw us as disposable too._

Abby nodded. “When I figured that out, I immediately called for a vote of no confidence. Thelonius refused to allow it, but I overruled him: I took it to the people. I told them what had happened over the P.A. system, and I said that they deserved to decide for themselves what was right. By the time I finished speaking, there was an angry mob outside the Chancellor’s quarters. He had no choice but to allow the vote to proceed, or risk them breaking down the door.”

Her mother paused to suck in a breath, and Clarke felt a little breathless herself, trying to envision the tumult in the claustrophobic hallways of the Ark. What Abby was describing sounded impossible, unimaginable, and yet here they were, on the ground. There was a part of her, Clarke realized, that had been convinced she’d never see her mother again. It seemed a minor miracle, and she would have thrown herself into Abby’s arms all over again if the situation hadn’t been so urgent.

“The vote passed. Jaha was removed as Chancellor, and Marcus Kane abdicated, which…left me.” She gave Clarke a grim, tired smile, thumbing the Chancellor’s pin on her shirt. “Until a full election can be held, anyway. But by that point, everyone was fired up enough that when I asked if there were any objections, it was unanimous. All anyone cared about was getting to the ground. Getting to you, and making sure you were safe.” Abby’s voice grew thick, and Clarke could see tears of relief and gratitude in her eyes. “And here you are.”

Clarke could feel her own eyes prickling with echoing tears, but she pushed them back. She had to make her mother understand the situation. “Not all of us,” she said, holding Abby at arm’s length when she attempted to move in for another hug. “Only a few of us made it out of the dropship camp. The rest have been captured, and taken to Mount Weather. If it weren’t for Lexa and the Grounders—”

“Oh honey,” her mother breathed, pushing past her objections and drawing her close. “It’s okay. You don’t need to pretend anymore. I’m so sorry for what you’ve been through, and I promise she’s going to pay for what she did to you.” The iron in Abby’s voice sent a cold lance of fear through Clarke.

“What she _did,_ Mom, is save my life,” she insisted, pulling away again. “She helped me, Bellamy, Octavia, and Finn get to one of their villages, Tondisi. When we saw the Ark come down, she brought as many warriors as she could with her, and there are more on their way, with food and supplies and healers. They’re here to help us, and they want to work together to get our people out of Mount Weather. _All_ of our people.”

But Clarke could tell that Abby wasn’t listening to her words, not really. Instead, she was gazing at Clarke with sad, pitying eyes, which rested on the still-new mating mark on the side of her neck. The omega felt frustration rise in her throat, and she struggled to control her anger and not just start yelling at her mom like she was the same _child_ she’d been before she was sent to Earth. That restraint snapped at the condescending tone of Abby’s next words.

“Clarke, honey, I know this is hard to hear, but you’re not in your right mind. It happens sometimes when you’ve just been mated. You feel like your alpha can do no wrong, and you have to defend them no matter what they’ve done. I need you to trust me, okay? Lexa’s dangerous, and she can’t be trusted. She proved that when the Grounders attacked you.”

" _What?”_ Clarke burst out, stepping back from her mother, hands balling into fists. “The Grounders never—that was the Mountain Men!”

“You’re not making sense, sweetheart,” Abby said sadly. “But it’s all right. We’ll have the fence going soon enough, and then we can work on breaking the mating bond. You’ll be okay. It’s going to be okay. You don’t have to be afraid of Lexa anymore.”

But while her mother’s unwillingness to listen continued to infuriate her, Clarke had gotten stuck on one word in particular. “Wait— _fence?”_

Abby nodded. “Yes, the electric fence. We had it in pieces, ready to protect us, but it only took a little bit of wiring. Sinclair’s crew has been working overtime to set it up, and we should have the generators online at any moment.”

Panic spiked in Clarke’s chest. _Oh god. If Lexa gets here and sees that they’ve put up a fence between her and me…_ She had seen the alpha’s rage when Clarke had been threatened, and it had been terrifying to behold. She couldn’t even imagine how Lexa would react when she found out that her mate was being kept from her.

“You have to stop them!” But she knew her mother wouldn’t, so she pulled away from Abby, ignoring her protests, and began sprinting for the exit. If she could just catch the engineering crew before they managed to turn on the fence, then maybe she could convince Lexa that this had all been a big misunderstanding. _But then I still have to convince my people that the Grounders aren’t all pitiless savages…_

She had just made it to the front airlock when she heard a triumphant shout. “We’re green to go. Try it now!” There was the _thunk_ of a heavy switch being thrown, and then an angry buzz. The lights flickered, dimmed, and then steadied, but there was a new noise in her ears: the sound of the electric fence humming to life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chil yu au: calm down  
> Mochof: thank you  
> Mafta ai op: follow me  
> stedaunon gon we en kikon ste enti: the dead are gone and the living are hungry  
> Chil yu daun: stand down  
> Indra, shil Okteivia op: Indra, protect Octavia  
> Ge smak daun, gyon op nodotaim: get knocked down, get back up again  
> Tai em op: bind him  
> Taim yu drag raun, taim yu ge ban au: if you fall behind, you get left behind


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [](http://s558.photobucket.com/user/calfaolan/media/green78%20-%20twon%20cover_zpskkb485uj.jpg.html)

Lexa had been expecting some measure of chaos when she, Indra, and Octavia returned from the woods, dragging the still-unconscious Lincoln behind them on a makeshift stretcher of branches and boughs. The sudden arrival of a space station from its orbit in the sky was not precisely a common event in the lives of her people, but as _Heda,_ dealing with the unknown was her duty, and so she had come to form a set of expectations over the time since her Ascension. None of them, however, prepared her for what she found when she returned to her warriors’ position around the crash site.

As they emerged from the treeline, Lexa noticed that a much larger segment of her army had arrived, under the command of General Goff. She nodded to the large, bearish omega as she passed, and when he nodded back, she said, “We have a captive with us—a _Ripa._ He’s unconscious now, but he will need to be restrained.”

Goff was a man of few words and fewer expressions, so when his eyebrows rose at Lexa’s words, she knew she’d managed to truly shock him. But all he did was nod, murmur, _“Sha, Heda,”_ and then dispatch several of his warriors to do her bidding.

After seeing Octavia off with her mate and marching Indra to Nyko’s tent to have her arm set, Lexa returned to Goff. Someone had brought her horse to the front, and she mounted, feeling a thousand years old as she swung into the saddle. For a very short while, she allowed herself to imagine that things might go smoothly. She would ride out to the Ark, find Clarke with her mother, and Abby Griffin would invite her inside. They would take a brief tour of the place that Clarke had called home for the first eighteen years of her life, allowing Lexa to assuage her curiosity (and determine whether Clarke had been telling the truth about the things she said they'd had on the station, some of which Lexa found very hard to believe). Then they would sit down with the Ark’s Chancellor, who would be very reasonable and understand the need to work together in order to free their people from the Mountain. With a preliminary plan worked out, she and Clarke would be able to slip off somewhere and steal a few hours to rest in each other’s arms…

 _Expect the worst, prepare for it, and be pleasantly surprised when it doesn't happen._ The words were Anya’s, and Lexa heard them in a voice remarkably like her mentor’s. A rueful smile twitched at her lips. _As always, Fos, you’re right._

Turning to Goff, she ordered, “Put together an advance party. Mostly betas, but a few omegas to smooth things along and some alphas to show our strength. But make certain that they can keep their heads when provoked.”

For the second time that day, and probably the second time Lexa could remember, the beta turned to her with a raised eyebrow. “ _Heda,_ it is of course not my place to question your orders, but I must caution against riding out into the open field. _Skaikru_ have _fayagon,_ do they not?”

“Yes,” Lexa said impatiently, “but we are not at war with them, so what does it matter?”

Goff just looked at her for a long moment, and Lexa felt something like a chill trickle down her spine. At last, he said, “It appears that no one told the _Skaikru.”_

The cold trickle turned into a flood of dread that filled her insides. _“Chit yu mana?”_ she growled, but she didn’t wait for Goff’s answer. Instead, she spurred her horse until she broke through the treeline, just in time to see the dawn shining on the bright new walls around the Ark.

_Walls? But surely Klark explained..._

She urged her mount onwards, her mate's name pounding like a drumbeat in her head. Clarke was behind those walls, possibly a prisoner of her own people. Fears pierced her heart, the stabbing points of a hundred arrows. _She wears my mark. They will smell me on her. If these fools see her as a traitor instead of an ambassador..._ The possibilities were too horrible to consider. Merely thinking about what might happen to Clarke while the omega was beyond her protection made her lip peel back in a snarl.

This would not stand. Alliance or no alliance, she needed to reclaim what was hers.

 _"Mafta ai op,"_ she called out, not bothering to turn and look back over her shoulder. She knew Goff and several of her warriors had followed without being ordered, and she could hear the patter of their horses' hooves behind her. "We ride to the gate."

 _"Heda,"_ Goff began, with clear doubt in his voice, but Lexa was in no state of mind to be questioned. Clarke was in there,behind those high walls, so she needed to breach them. Without waiting for the omega to finish, she charged forward, eyes fixed intently on the gate—so intently that the loud crack ringing out over her head came as a complete surprise. Her horse reared, whickering in terror at the noise, and it took several tugs of the reins and a hard clench of her thighs for Lexa to stay in the saddle. She caught a glimpse of a few figures standing behind the walls, and the sunlight glinted off of something metallic.

_Fayagon._

The danger should have made her wary, but instead, it fed her rage. Searing, angry heat pulsed through her veins, burning through her fear until nothing remained but instinct. Clarke. She had to protect Clarke. Her mate. Her everything. She didn't urge her horse forward, but stayed where she was, sitting tall in her saddle and staring at the walls as if the sheer force of her glare could send them tumbling down.

"I am _Leksa kom Trikru,_ Commander of the Twelve Clans,” she roared. “You will open these gates and release my mate to me, or my warriors and I will bring them down around you."

"Lexa!"

The sound of her name was faint, but her face softened instantly. Even though she had only known Clarke for the past few weeks, she knew that voice as well as she knew her own. She tried to urge her horse forward again, but another warning shot cracked over her head. Instead, she tried to peer through the wires and beams of the fence. Several figures stood near the gate, and she zeroed in on one of them immediately. _"Klark? Klark,_ are you hurt?"

"I'm fine! Don't come any closer, and don't touch the fence—it’s electrified. I'm going to come to you."

Those words, _I'm going to come to you,_ eased some of the angry red fog around Lexa's mind. She was able to breathe again, and it was only after she had sucked in a lungful of precious air that she realized how difficult it had been before. For Clarke, she would be patient, at least for another minute.

* * *

Clarke was _done_. She was so very, very done with everything, and she was tired, and she was about ready to hit Sergeant Miller where he stood at the gate, eyeing her nervously. She was sure she must be stinking of fury, if the way the beta flinched was anything to go by, but he held his ground. “I'm sorry, Clarke,” he said, looking at her pityingly. “I can’t let you go out there. Chancellor's orders.”

“My _mate_ is out there!” Clarke shouted, pointing furiously at the gate, but Miller's pitying expression only deepened.

“I know. It's okay. You'll be safe within the walls.”

Clarke wanted to scream that he was the one who wouldn’t be safe if he didn’t let her out right this minute, but she choked down her rage. It wouldn’t help her. The only thing that would was if she could somehow make her people understand that the Grounders weren’t their enemies—or they didn’t have to be. But the longer they kept her here against her will, the likelier it was that they would have their choice made for them.

Focusing on the vague shape she could see beyond the wires and struts of the electrified walls, Clarke raised her voice. “Lexa, can you hear me?” The answer came, faintly, in the affirmative. “Okay. I’m gonna go back inside the Ark for a bit, and try to talk to my mom again. Don’t come any closer, okay? I don’t want you to get hurt.”

There was a moment’s pause that had Clarke biting her lip, worried the alpha would refuse and instead declare her intent to return with a full complement of cavalry, but eventually Lexa shouted, “I won’t. But Clarke…don’t be too long.”

Clarke shook her head, then realized that Lexa probably wouldn’t be able to make out the gesture. “I won’t, I promise. I’ll see you soon.” She hesitated for a second, then snarled in Miller’s direction, “I’ll _make_ her let me see you soon.”

With a last longing glance at the shadowy outline of her mate, Clarke stormed back into the cool interior of the Ark, her steps clanging loudly on the metal walkways. The sound was one she knew well, and it should have felt like home, as should the closed, angular spaces, but after weeks of sleeping under the vast canopy of stars and sky, and exploring the infinitely variable environs of the forest, what was once familiar now felt to her like a cage.

As she delved further into the station in search of her mother, she found claustrophobia twining with her longing for the comfort of Lexa's arms, Lexa's smell, even Lexa's nearness. Everything in her urged her to run back outside and fight tooth and nail to get through the gate, but she knew it would only result in her sedated and strapped to a bed in the medical bay, the object of pity and sympathy. So she forged on, telling herself, _The only way out is through._

Clarke found her mother where she expected: in the medical bay, tending to people who’d sustained burns and cuts and broken bones from the fall to Earth. Clarke felt a pang as she thought about how, if circumstances had been different, she would likely have been right here alongside her mother, working to bind wounds and set bones. She felt bad about taking Abby away from a place where she was so sorely needed, but she knew that if she couldn’t make her mother see reason, burns and lacerations were going to be the least of their problems.

“I need to talk to you,” Clarke hissed, when her mother turned away from her patient with an armload of bloody bandages. Abby proceeded to dump the bandages in a tub to be washed before turning a smile on her that was genuine, but unable to obscure her worry.

“What's going on, honey?” the Chancellor said, in the tone of voice Clarke knew she used for calming nervous or finicky patients.

“ _Privately,”_ Clarke insisted, knowing that the last thing they needed was a bunch of scared, injured people overhearing part of the conversation and jumping to the worst conclusions.

Abby sighed, but a quick glance around the bay seemed to convince her that Jackson had the situation well in hand, so she reluctantly stepped out into the access corridor.

Clarke, however, wasn't content to stay there. She began marching back the way she had come, only slowing her pace enough to make sure her mother was following. "You need to tell Miller and the rest of the guards to open the gate and let me out," she said as they walked. "I know you're the new Chancellor, but I've been on the ground for almost a month now, and trust me—if you don't release me back to Lexa, you're going to be responsible for starting a war."

"Clarke, wait." Abby reached out to touch Clarke’s arm, and she came to an abrupt halt in the middle of the hall, bristling with frustration at the invasion of her personal space. "Let's take a deep breath and go back to the medical bay. I need to give you an examination anyway. You’re getting very close to needing your booster injections for your implant, or you’ll be at an increased risk for pregnancy—"

"An examination?" Clarke repeated in disbelief, jerking away from her mother's touch. "Did you not hear what I just said? Lexa is the Commander of the Grounders. You know, the people _who live here._ You and the rest of the Ark just crashed down onto their land. I was the one who convinced Lexa to come here and help us, but now you'll be lucky if she doesn't try to kill you!"

Abby's eyes narrowed, and her mouth pressed into a disapproving slash with subtle wrinkles around the edges. "They aren't going to kill us, Clarke. We're safe behind the fence—"

"Maybe for a day, until Lexa's army find a way to get past it and bring me back."

"Wait. They have an army out there?" Abby interrupted, a furrow creasing her forehead. "Clarke, this is serious—"

"That's what I'm trying to tell you, but you won't listen! Please, Mom, the Grounders aren't the only ones down here. While you're busy shooting at people who want to be our allies, the _Maunon_ have taken almost all the other Delinquents hostage. Lexa has agreed to help us get them back, but she can't do that while I'm trapped in here and you're hiding behind a fucking fence!"

"You aren't trapped here, Clarke," Abby said. "I'm just trying to keep you safe."

"Well, you're doing a fucking terrible job of it," she snarled, leaning further into Abby's face. Her mother's alpha's scent burned in her nose, but she ignored it, pushing past the discomfort with the sheer force of her rage. Her mate was out there, and if she couldn't convince her mother to see reason, good people would definitely die—perhaps even Lexa herself.

_That would be the stupidest thing ever. She beats Quint, only to get shot by my own people, just for trying to help. Come on, Clarke! Use those omega skills. Be the mature one here. You're supposed to be a diplomat._

"Please, Mom," Clarke said, deliberately letting her own persuasive scent build and pushing back against Abby's domineering one. "I know this is all new and scary to you, being down here on the ground for the first time, but I've been here for weeks already. I've started to see what life here is like. You _need_ to trust me on this. Don't you remember what happened when Dad didn't trust you?"

It galled her to say those words, but they had an immediate impact. Abby's eyes widened, and her frown softened a little. Clarke leapt on the opportunity, reaching out to take her mother's forearm in a soft but firm grip. "You're the Chancellor now. You need to process all the information available, not just what you think you know. That means talking to Lexa. She's the top alpha around here. Trust me, you don't want to start a war with her."

Silence reigned for several uncomfortable seconds, but at last, Abby released a breath and nodded. "Fine. But you stay on this side of the fence. I've only just found you, Clarke. I worked for weeks to try and get down here so I could save you. I'm not losing you again."

"I don't need saving," Clarke said. "Lexa beat you to it. And you should be thanking her, by the way. If it weren't for her, the _Maunon_ would have taken me with the others."

"And who are these _'Maunon'_ you keep talking about?" Abby asked as they walked. "How did they take the rest of you, and how are they different from the Grounders?"

"Finally, you're asking the right questions," Clarke said. "The _Maunon_ are a group of people who have holed up in Mount Weather since we left Earth. We don't know much about them, but they capture Lexa's people and use them for weird medical experiments. Most never come back, but the ones that do are different... They're crazy, like they've been tortured. And the _Maunon_ have technology. They've got guns, from what Lexa says, and this poisonous fog that they use to kill the people they don't abduct. That's how Lexa and I... um." A hot blush spread across her face, and she immediately regretted the slip. The last thing she wanted to do was remind her mother of her newly mated status, especially since she was finally starting to see reason.

Abby sighed, running a hand through her hair. “Clarke, wait.”

Clarke stopped and turned with a huff, prepared to be annoyed at her mother for stalling, but something in the alpha's voice made her pause.

“I just…can you tell me honestly that she’s not…mistreating you?” Abby said, hope and worry and disbelief mingling in her scent and making Clarke's throat tighten. “Because if she is, honey, I want you to know that you can tell me. I don’t care what kind of an army she has. If she’s been hurting you in any way, there’s no way in hell I’m letting her get through that gate.”

Clarke's heart gave an uncomfortable squeeze at the iron in her mother's tone, and the wave of protectiveness pouring from the older alpha. She stepped closer, pulling Abby into a hug. “She hasn’t, Mom. She’s helped me, and protected me, and almost died for me, and she’s never asked or demanded anything of me in return. She just wants peace, for both of our sakes, and for us to work together so we can get our people out of Mount Weather.”

She felt her mother sigh into her hair. “All right. I guess I can accept that. I’m still not letting her in here without some assurances, though.”

Clarke nearly screamed in frustration before following her mother out the airlock door.

* * *

Raven heard them come for the first of the Delinquents that night—or at least, she thought it was night. It was kind of hard to tell while she was locked in a rickety wire cage, in a white, windowless, underground prison with lights that never turned off. She had just managed to drift off into a light doze when hoarse yelling and the sounds of a scuffle yanked her back into wakefulness. She couldn’t make out what was being said, but she could surmise from the tone of voice, and the sound of a sharp impact followed by a dull thud, that at least one of them was being taken away for some unknown purpose. He’d probably put up a bit too much of a fight and gotten a boot to the head for his trouble.

The same thing happened three more times over the next hour. Sometimes the person they took went quietly; other times they whimpered and begged, but no matter what happened, they went where the Mountain Men took them. _That's where I need to go too,_ Raven realized, after the fourth Arker had been hauled away. _That'll tell me why they captured us, and why they didn’t take us to the cages with the others._ But she didn’t plan to go as a captive—she meant to go as a guard.

After listening for a while longer and coming to the conclusion that whatever the Mountain Men had taken her friends for, they had enough people for now, Raven pulled the guard uniform from where she’d hidden it behind her refuse bucket and carefully tugged it on. Then she picked the lock on her cage and punched in the code for the door, and after sparing a quick glance at the sleeping forms of her cellmates, crept out into the hall.

After making sure the coast was clear, Raven paused, taking stock of her situation. _Okay. Good news first. No asshole guards or creepy doctors around._ She was alone in the hallway, and a cursory glance revealed that there weren't any nearby cameras. _Bad news... I have no idea where I'm going._ The Mountain Men had dragged her friends away with a clear destination in mind, but where that destination was, Raven didn't have a clue. She was starting to regret her decision to sneak out, especially since she hadn't seen or heard from Anya in several hours.

 _Anya._ That was somewhere to start, at least. She would head for the last place she had seen the alpha, and hopefully, they could rendezvous. She ignored the flutter in her stomach, part nerves and part butterflies she didn't have time to worry about, and headed back toward the cages where the Grounders were kept. All the while, she tried not to think about all the horrible things that could have befallen her friend during the time they had been apart.

The only thing that brought her any comfort was what the strange suited woman had said in decontamination: that the 'Outsiders' wouldn't be needed anymore. _What else did she say? Marrow treatments? Could that be what they need us for?_ She wished she could remember more, but some of those memories were a fearful blur. Being a prisoner wasn't exactly easy on the brain, and hers was slower and fuzzier than usual.

_Pull it together, Reyes. You still need to find Anya, and the rest of your friends they took away, and a radio, and a way out of this fucking place—_

She was so distracted that she didn't hear the footsteps behind her until it was too late. A hand clapped over her mouth, and she found herself screaming into someone's palm, body trembling and eyes bugging out of her head. She thrashed and bared her teeth, preparing to bite down in a desperate effort to escape, but the familiar scent of alpha washed over her, and an equally familiar voice whispered harshly in her ear. _"Reivon,_ it's me. Don't scream."

Raven sagged with relief, heart still hammering a mile a minute. "Fuck, Anya, you nearly made me piss myself," she panted when the hand over her mouth fell away. She turned, not sure whether to be angry or overjoyed. Even though Anya had startled her, she had to admit that the sight of the alpha’s face was one of the most beautiful sights she had ever seen. "What's wrong with you, sneaking up on people?"

"You're sneaking too," Anya pointed out. "I have been busy these past few hours. Here, look." She held up a small black box, and Raven forgot her sudden, dizzying spike of fear. Instead, she felt a wave of relief and happiness.

"A radio!" she said, clutching excitedly at both of Anya's arms. "Shit, I could kiss you. How did you—"

"One of the guards," Anya told her. "I had no choice but to kill him. His body is near the cages that hold my warriors... with his pants down." Just a hint of a smile appeared on the alpha's face, and Raven could tell she was pleased with herself. "When they find him, hopefully they will not ask too many questions."

"Gotta hand it to you, that's brilliant," Raven said. "Here, give me the radio. Hopefully, I can use it to try and contact someone on the outside."

Anya passed it over, but remained cautious, glancing down either side of the corridor. "We need to get somewhere safer. This hallway is too open. What about the room where you found these uniforms?"

Raven nodded. "Sure. That's not too close to the body, right? Come on."

Through what could be put down to stealth or guile, but which Raven privately suspected was more like pure dumb luck, they made it back to supply room without incident. Now that she had more time to look around, the dimly-lit room was full of interesting stuff—including an entire bank of charging docks, in which radios nestled, slowly blinking their way from red to green. Interest piqued, Raven headed over there, deciding to see if the array held any clues as to where she could find an access point to the larger system. “There’s got to be a stronger signal,” she murmured to herself, perusing the equipment at hand. “Even if most of this crap is old as balls…”

As she surveyed the array of radios, trying to decide if anything there could help her, she heard Anya rummaging around among the assorted junk in the messy storeroom. “There is so much here, and in such disarray,” the Grounder alpha remarked. “It must be nice to have enough belongings that you can treat them with such carelessness.”

“Yeah, must be,” Raven said, a bit awkwardly, remembering the disarray of her room back on the Ark. Pulling one of the radios from its charger, she began flicking through the frequencies. Most of them only yielded bursts of static, and she was beginning to get frustrated, when she noticed a sheet of paper taped to the bench on which the charging docks sat. Further investigation revealed it to be a list of frequency assignments. “Bingo,” Raven murmured to herself gleefully, forgetting that she wasn't alone in her workshop.

“And what does that mean?” Anya's voice floated over to her from the other end of the room, filled with amusement.

“Uh, it's a _Skaikru_ word for, like, yay! Or awesome. Or…”

 _“Badas.”_ The Trigedasleng word was close enough to English that Raven knew what she was talking about.

“Yeah, something like that,” she muttered, already re-engrossed in puzzling over the list. Most of them were mundane things, like _Kitchens_ or _Warehouses_ or _General Traffic,_ but then she noticed one labeled _Private._ The beta smirked. “Not anymore.”

“Do all Sky People talk to themselves this much, or is it just you?” Anya asked, her tone faintly mocking.

“Are all Grounders this obnoxious, or is it just you?” Raven retorted, but without any real bite. “Got it!” With a fizzing crackle, Raven had managed to tune the thing to the “Private” frequency, and now a man's voice, low and smug and dripping with oily self-satisfaction, filled the room.

“And all the results came up positive, Dr. Tsing?”

“Yes, sir,” came a woman's voice, one that Raven recognized instantly as the scientist from the decontamination chamber. “Every marrow sample we've tested has not only met but exceeded our expectations. I know it's unorthodox, President Wallace, but Cage's plan—”

“Is unethical and barbaric,” an older man's voice growled. “Using the Outsiders was one thing. They’re scarcely more than animals. But these are _children,_ and you're condemning all of them to a painful death so you can harvest their bone marrow—”

“So we can get to the ground, Dad!” the first man argued. “It's all you've ever wanted: to survive out there. It's the dream! It's what we deserve—”

Raven clicked the radio off, feeling ill. _That's what they want us for. They’re harvesting our bone marrow so they can reach the surface._ It was so sick, so fucked-up, that she almost didn’t notice the low growl rumbling through Anya's chest. When she turned, the Grounder alpha's eyes were narrowed to slits, her fists clenched and her chest heaving with fury. But when she spoke, her voice was cold and hard with purpose.

“We will stop this, _Reivon._ I swear it. Whatever they’re doing to your people, and mine, we'll put an end to it.”

Raven smiled shakily. “Thanks. I just wish we knew how to get to them. This place is a maze, and by the time we find that lab, it might already be too late. If we had some kind of map…” She ran a hand through her hair, eyes roving furiously over the assorted debris, but nothing struck her as useful. To her shame, tears of anger and frustration filled her eyes, and she turned away so that Anya wouldn’t see them. She might not have been an alpha, but she had her pride.

Then a warm hand clasped her shoulder, and the smell of alpha—of _Anya—_ washed over her, oddly comforting. But when Raven turned, preparing to ask the Grounder to just give her a minute, please, she'd be all right in just a sec, she found Anya looking at her with a crooked grin. “Like these, perhaps?” she said, holding up a set of papers that Raven recognized immediately to be blueprints.

A broad smile spread across her face, and she practically snatched the papers from Anya's hands, flipping through them with unconcealed excitement. "Yes! Where did you find these?" she asked, staring at the blueprints with something close to awe. Thanks to Anya, they had all of Mount Weather at their fingertips, gridded out and neatly labeled. "Shit, this is perfect!" she crowed in triumph, tracing lines with shaking fingers. "This one shows all the radio wiring in the whole fucking place. All we need to do is find a place to jack in, and hope someone on the outside has a working radio to hear us."

"That is still only a hope, not a certainty," Anya pointed out, but when Raven looked up, she noticed that the alpha was smiling. She was obviously beginning to feel hope anyway, and Raven found that it was infectious.

"Your people are out there, Anya. If they're even half as _badas_ as you, we'll blow this place in no time. And when I say blow, I mean blow it up. With explosives. Sky-high."

"What about your people?" Anya asked, coming to stand by her side in order to study the blueprints as well. "Do you have any idea where the _Maunon_ might be holding them?"

Raven studied the maps again. "Well, this whole floor labeled 'Medical' is probably a good place to start if these fuckers are experimenting on them," she said, tapping against the paper. "Second step: jack into their communications and try to get ahold of someone out there. Third step: Go down to Medical and see if we can figure out where the rest of my friends are."

"You forgot the first step," Anya said. Her eyebrows knitted together in confusion, and suddenly, Raven couldn't look away from her face. Time seemed to slow down, and she found herself focusing on Anya's eyes, Anya's gorgeously carved cheekbones, Anya's lips... She knew this wasn't the time, or the place, but she was all too aware that there might not be any other times or places, and—

Anya's lips were warm and soft and smooth, and she didn't fully realize they were kissing until their bodies collided, the blueprints crushed between them, fingers tangled in each other's hair. It was messy and a little off center, and both of them tilted their heads in the same direction at first in an effort to compensate. But after a minor moment of awkwardness, they lined up correctly, and Anya's tongue was pressing urgently against her lips. She pushed forward with her own, trying to drink in as much of the alpha's flavor as she could.

It tasted like sex and heat and desperation, but there was also something comforting about it, something familiar and reassuring that a first kiss had never given her before. In a matter of seconds, it went from feeling like they were fumbling pups who had never done this to lovers who had been doing this together for years, and the rightness of it was almost enough to make Raven forget that they were in a dingy storeroom, wearing stolen guard uniforms, trying to hide from an entire Mountain full of people who wanted to kill them. She was kissing Anya, and Anya was kissing her back, and for a split second, everything clicked.

Sadly, it couldn't last forever. Anya pulled away first, panting lightly, and Raven let her go, but only after nipping her lower lip to punctuate the end of the kiss. "That was step one," Raven said, heart hammering crazily in the cage of her chest. "And if the two of us pull this off, there'll be a lot more where that came from. If you want it."

Anya cracked a rare smile, and the room suddenly seemed much warmer and brighter. _"Sha, Reivon._ I want it. So you'd better keep using that brilliant brain of yours, because I'm not going to be satisfied with just a kiss when this is over."

* * *

In. Out. Another breath. Another heartbeat. Lexa wasn't sure how long she had been staring at the jagged, humming fence and the painful-bright gleam of the Ark's walls, and part of her didn't care. Clarke had not yet returned, and every second without her felt like an eternity. Lexa twisted the leather reins until they bit into her hands, imagining they were the throats of the guards keeping her _niron_ from her. She had promised to be patient, but her patience was rapidly wearing thin.

 _What if they've locked her away? What if they're interrogating her? Torturing her for information about the Coalition?_ The fact that Clarke knew practically nothing about the politics of her world and possessed none of her secrets mattered little. Prisoners with nothing useful to say rarely lasted long, Lexa knew from personal experience. _Or worse, what if they realize they can use her against me? What if they are hurting her simply to hurt me? Because she is mine?_

It was a horrifying thought, one that tore open old wounds. Lexa's mind flashed back—to the memory of her lover's severed head tossed carelessly onto the foot of her bed, skin sagging around the mouth, dead, unmoving eyes trapped inside what had once been her beloved Costia's face. Her stomach gave a sick lurch, raising bile to burn in the bottom of her throat. Nia had killed her mate just to wound her, and to her bitterness, it had worked. It hadn't stopped her from becoming _Heda_ and fulfilling her destiny, but she would forever carry the injury, like a broken bone that hadn't set properly.

They had been taken from each other too soon, but she hadn't learned her lesson. Here she was, only a few years later, in exactly the same position. Her mate was in danger—because of her—and she was trapped outside, helpless to do anything about it.

Protective rage welled within her, and she ground her teeth, sipping hissing breaths between them. _No. I will do something about it. I will bring down these walls, for Klark and for my people. If Skaikru will not negotiate, they will threaten us no longer. My people will not know the pain I suffered. I will end this now, before these invaders have the chance to take anyone else's loved ones away._

She turned her horse, preparing to ride back to where her army was gathered by the treeline, when a familiar blonde head popped up above the wall. “Lexa!”

Instantly, the red fog of revenge cleared from Lexa's mind. It was replaced with a sweet rush of relief, and she exhaled for what felt like the very first time. “Klark!” she cried, as though they had been parted for twenty years instead of perhaps twenty minutes. Then, recognizing where she was and that she needed to be representing herself as the leader of her people, not a lovestruck pup, she lowered her voice. “Did they hurt you? Are you safe?”

"I'm fine, I promise. Look, I know you're worried, but please, you have to trust me," Clarke called down from the wall. "Things are...rockier...than I thought they'd be, but we don't need to fight. The Arkers just want to talk."

Lexa couldn’t make out much of her mate's face due to the distance between them, but the hopeful smile that spread across Clarke's lips made her feel as though a second sun had risen within her chest. She allowed herself to return it briefly before focusing her attention on the other blonde woman she could see standing next to Clarke.

She could definitely see the similarities between Clarke and her mother—the blonde hair, the stubborn set to their jaws—but that was where it ended. Where Clarke was pleasantly curvaceous, Abby Griffin was all sharp angles and firm lines. The look in her eyes was weary but determined, and Lexa could tell that she was no one to be trifled with. Clarke's mother was prepared to do whatever it took to protect her daughter, and that was certainly a quality Lexa could respect. She shared the same conviction.

 _Perhaps,_ she allowed herself to hope foolishly, _we can reach common ground in that regard. If they have not hurt Klark, there may be hope for this alliance yet._

“I am _Leksa kom Trikru,_ Commander of the Twelve Clans and ruler of these lands,” she called up to the older alpha. “I am also mate to _Klark kom Skaikru,_ and I come in peace. I have much to discuss with your leader, Jaha, and I request entry to your compound.”

“Jaha’s not Chancellor anymore; I am,” Abby Griffin shot back. “And I agree with you on one thing: we _definitely_ have a lot to discuss. But we can do it just fine with you out there, and Clarke safe in here with me.”

Lexa's lip curled, a snarl ripping from her throat before she could curtail it, but Clarke's exclamation was loud enough to drown it out. _“Mom!_ You said you’d give her a chance!”

“And I am,” Abby said. “Notice how I'm _speaking_ with the alpha who _mated my daughter,_ instead of shooting her on sight—”

Lexa bristled, preparing to object, but Clarke managed first. “Oh my _god,_ Mom! _Why are you like this?”_

“Don't talk to me that way, Clarke. I'm your mother—”

"Right now, all you're being is an ass!"

Lexa had no idea whether to be amused or outraged that the negotiations she'd expected had devolved into a mother-daughter squabble, but it wasn’t long before her impatience won out. She had been forced to wait out here for a painfully long amount of time, unsure whether Clarke was alive or dead, and she had no patience for foolishness.

“Enough!” she barked, making both of them jerk around to stare at her. “You will open these gates and let me see my mate, or I will bring them crashing down around you! I am not here to fight you, but if you test my will or my patience further, I will not hesitate to show you the might of _Trikru.”_

Abby looked scared but determined as she ground out, “You can try.” Clarke stared at both of them with a mixture of worry and exasperation as the silence stretched between them, tense as a drawn bowstring. Lexa was aware of a contest of wills between Clarke’s mother and herself, and while it was probable that she might get what she wanted more quickly if she made herself appear nonthreatening, there was no way she would lose. _I will beat myself against this gate until it breaks, or I do,_ she told herself. One way or another, she would get to Clarke.

_“—thing on? Um, hello? Can anybody hear me?”_

The unnatural crackle of a voice coming from Abby's hip startled all three of them out of their trance. Lexa initially thought nothing of it, but she took notice when Abby removed a small black box from her hip and began staring as though it were a snake about to bite. Clearly, they’d recognized the voice, and it was coming from... _What did_ Klark _call it back at the dropship? A radio?_

 _“—lo, Earth to Ark! Come in,_ Skaikru! _Oh wait, you probably don’t know what that means. Well, unless you're Clarke. Hey, Clarke!”_

The voice fizzed out again, but before it could return, Clarke reached out and took the box from her mother's hands.

“Raven?"

"You bet your ass, princess."

"Oh my god, Raven," Clarke gasped, all the tension melting from her body. She turned to her mother, grasping her arm in a way that was almost friendly. "Mom, they're alive! Some of them are still alive!"

_Some of them are still alive..._

Lexa couldn't stop her own heart from swelling with hope. She knew the fact that some of Clarke's people had survived didn't guarantee that her own people were safe, but there was a slim chance. At the very least, the _Maunon_ had not killed everyone immediately. Until she heard otherwise, she was going to work under the assumption that Anya and the rest of her warriors were still fighting to escape the Mountain.

_"For now, yeah. We're still trapped in a fucking mountain with a bunch of people who want experiment on us, but, you know. Better than being dead. Where are you? Please tell me Lexa's with you. I've got blueprints of this place, and it's a fucking fallout shelter. Literally. We're gonna need an army to crack this walnut."_

"Tell her I'm here," Lexa called up to Clarke. "And ask her if—"

_"Anya's with me, by the way. Please tell me Lexa's alive so she'll stop pacing behind me and muttering to herself?"_

"Oh, she's alive," Clarke said into the radio. "Pissed, but alive." She turned once more to her mother, fixing her with a stern gaze. "Are you ready to listen to me now? The kids the Council sent down here to die are in danger. Are you going to do better than Jaha did, or are you going to abandon them, too? And before you ask, yes. Rescuing them means working with Lexa. She just wants to help, Mom. I promise. Her people are in there too."

After a long pause, Abby nodded in agreement. "Fine. Hold on, Lexa. I'll tell them to open the gate."


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, it's been an age and a day, kru - sorry about that! Have an extra-long chapter to make up for it. We're finally getting to the biggest parts of the plot - but first, things are gonna get smutty ;P 
> 
> As always, let us know what you think in the comments and on tumblr @n1ghtwr1ter and @raedmagdon.
> 
> [](http://s558.photobucket.com/user/calfaolan/media/green78%20-%20twon%20cover_zpskkb485uj.jpg.html)  
> 

_ Lexa. _

As the guards shut off the humming fence and moved to unlock the gates, that single word swelled to fill Clarke's heart. Lexa. Her alpha. Her mate. She shook her mother's protective hand from her shoulder, racing forward before the gates finished opening. The two of them had only been apart for a few hours, but it felt like years had passed. Lexa dismounted from her horse, but Clarke barely gave her time to turn before barreling into her arms.

_ "Niron," _ Lexa murmured, and Clarke shuddered as warm lips grazed her forehead.

"Fuck," Clarke rasped, swallowing around the painful lump in her throat. A few more cracks in her trembling voice, and she would have been sobbing. "I thought someone was going to shoot you..." That thought sent a stab of pain through her heart, and only Lexa's familiar scent and the pressure of Lexa's arms around her kept her steady. "How could you be so  _ stupid? _ " she hissed, keeping her face buried securely in the sweet-smelling curve of Lexa's shoulder. "You could have died, charging up here like you owned the place—"

_ "Klark," _ Lexa said, still placing butterfly kisses against her hair and along her temple. "I was not shot. I am not dead. And can you tell me you wouldn't have done the same for me if I were the one being held prisoner?"

She couldn't, and tears pricked at Clarke’s eyes as she finally melted into Lexa's embrace. Both of them were alive, and safe, and they were together.  _ Nothing and no one's going to tear us apart again. Not my mom, and definitely not the Mountain Men. They’re dead if they even try. _

"Okay," she whispered. Her voice still shook with emotion, but just feeling Lexa's body against hers started to calm her down. The strong scent of alpha made her feel safe, its sharp spice of anger dulled into fierce but tender protectiveness—the same protectiveness she felt toward Lexa.

She inhaled deeply, nuzzling beneath the collar of Lexa's coat and placing an open-mouthed kiss against her mating mark. She could feel the steady beat of Lexa's pulse beneath, and after a few moments of soft suckling, she felt like she was standing on steady ground again. Without a word passing between them, Lexa bent her head to do the same. The last of her worries dissolved as she felt the alpha's teeth set gently against her throat, and she sighed with pure relief.

_ "Reyes to Griffin. Reyes to Griffin. Where the hell are you? Please tell me you can still hear me..." _

Clarke jerked in surprise as the radio in her hand blared loud with the warped sound of Raven's voice. She had completely forgotten about it, and she flushed with shame as she realized that she and Lexa had been lost in their own little world. She stepped back, pressing the radio button again. "Sorry, Raven. There was an...incident."

_ "An incident, huh?" _ Raven joked.  _ "An 'incident' with your new squeeze?" _

"Um..." Clarke blushed, although she couldn’t help being happy that Raven hadn’t lost her sense of humor while being held captive.

_ "Heh. That's a 'yes', I guess. So, first thing we need to do is set up a way to contact each other. You can't just radio any time, or the guards might hear. I actually have some thoughts..." _

“You’re certain that you’re all right?” Lexa said under the cover of Raven’s chatter, her hand coming up to cup Clarke’s cheek. Clarke couldn’t help leaning into her mate’s touch, enjoying its rough, calloused comfort. It felt like she could breathe again for the first time since the fence had crackled to life between her and Lexa. 

“I am now,” Clarke said, smiling up at Lexa.

_ “…you even  _ listening _ to me?” _

Clarke jumped guiltily before clicking the call button once more. “Yeah, I’m here.” 

A fake-vomiting noise came from the device.  _ “Okay, color me grossed out. Anya,  _ please _ promise me we’re never gonna be like…uh…” _

Clarke’s eyes narrowed as she smelled blood. “Like what, Raven? What does  _ uh  _ stand for?”

_ “Absolutely nothing,” _ the beta snapped. _ “Stay on task, Griffin. I’m still a fucking prisoner here. As I was saying, do you remember any Morse code from our Earth Skills classes?”  _

“I remember consistently kicking your ass in Earth Skills classes,” Clarke said teasingly, earning herself a loud raspberry from the radio. 

_ “As if. But anyway, I’ve been teaching Anya some basic stuff, like SOS and Come in, so if we need to get in touch with each other, we should be able to signal without alerting the Mount Weather guards. Do you think you can handle that, or is too much of your brain taken up with smoochies?” _

“Shut up, Raven,” Clarke said evenly, before turning back to Lexa, who looked confused. “Did you get any of that?”

“Not much,” Lexa confessed, “but I trust you.” 

A smile stretched across Clarke’s face, and she couldn’t resist leaning up to press a kiss to her mate's lips. Lexa returned it enthusiastically, her tongue teasing apart Clarke's lips and slipping into her mouth for further exploration, and the omega found herself sinking further into Lexa's embrace. The warmth and strength of her arms, the way their bodies fitted together, as though the alpha had been made for her, and the captivating mixture of their scents had her gasping within moments, erasing all thoughts of the Mountain, Raven, Anya, the Ark, her mother…

“Not to interrupt, but are you two certain that’s the best use of Raven's time?” Clarke and Lexa jumped at the sound of her mother's voice, sharp as a glacier splitting. The smell of angry alpha wafting from Abby would have been enough to drive them apart even if she hadn't spoken, however, and Clarke recognized the look on her mother’s face quite well. It was her You're In Serious Trouble Young Lady expression, and Clarke was properly terrified—or she would have been, except for the fact that Lexa looked even more frightened than she felt. 

Somehow, despite the fact that she had been holding Clarke firmly against her body with her hands on the omega's waist, Lexa had managed to put a good five feet of distance between them in the space of time it took Abby to cover several yards, and was now standing at attention, chin raised and hands clasped behind her back. Clarke had to stifle a giggle at the stick-straight posture of the normally very dominant Commander, but this was, for all intents and purposes, Abby's turf. For territorial alphas like her mother and Lexa, that gave the older woman an automatic edge. 

As hilarious as it was to see Lexa acting like the nervous teenager she was for once, Clarke was not about to allow her mother to bully her mate. “Mom,” she said warningly, stepping forward before Abby could get much closer. “We're working together on this, right? So let's keep it civil.” 

The new Chancellor's nostrils flared, and she looked like she very much wanted to demur, but eventually she gave a tight nod. “For now. But once our people are out of Mount Weather, you and I—” she jabbed a finger at Lexa's chest—“are going to talk.” 

The Commander nodded, looking pale but determined. “I understand.”

_ "Not that this isn't hilarious, but you guys can deal with your family issues later, okay? We've still got a serious situation here!" _

Clarke hung her head, suitably chastised. "Sorry, Raven. You've got my attention. If this place is as heavily guarded as you say it is, how do you want us to get in?"

_ "It won't be easy," _ Raven said.  _ "Like I said, this mountain was built for nuclear fallout. It hardly has any exits, and the people who live here never go outside. I actually don't think they can. I've heard the creepy labcoats talking about blood transfusions and bone marrow transplants. They've been taking some of us away every day, and no one's come back." _

Clarke's stomach lurched. "You're right," she whispered, trying to suppress the shudder of disgust that coursed through her body. "We ran into Murphy a few days ago. Apparently, the Mountain Men caught him after he left camp...and used him for 'testing'. When they found out there were more of us, they used him to try and find the dropship. According to him, they're harvesting our marrow for some kind of treatment."

_ "Murphy? That little fucker!"  _ Raven spat, her voice hissing through the radio.  _ "When I get out of here, I'm gonna kick his ass so hard it inverts and swallows his stupid head." _

"Believe me, I sympathize, but we can worry about Murphy later," Clarke said. "For now, we need a way to get you out of there. You said you have blueprints. Any promising ideas?"

"A map of the mountain will do us little good," Lexa replied before Raven could. "Their acid fog will devour us before we can get close enough to break in."

_ "Anya and I can probably help with that," _ Raven said.  _ "There's gotta be a way to shut it off from the inside, right? Best case scenario, I'll blow up the control room so they can't turn it on." _

"Don't you mean worst case scenario?" Clarke asked.

_ "You heard me. Anyway, that's the plan. I'll shut off the acid fog, you guys come in and kick ass." _

"Not much of a plan," Clarke said.

Lexa merely sighed. "Does your map show any other entrances to the Mountain besides the main gates? My scouts have examined them thoroughly, at the cost of many good lives, and they claim it is impossible to open them from the outside."

The sound of rustling paper came through the radio, and they all leaned in closer, waiting for Raven to answer.  _ "Nope. Not that I can see. This place is locked up tighter than that bunker while you two were… Oh, wait. Here we go. It looks like there might be a tunnel leading out of the medical wing? Maybe? No idea where the other side comes out, though. If Lexa's scouts haven't found it, it must be well hidden. Maybe it's the same tunnel they used to bring us in?" _

"A tunnel does us no good if the entrance is hidden," Lexa said, clearly disappointed.

"It's still better than nothing," Clarke said, giving her arm a squeeze. "We could always—"

She never got the chance to finish her thought. Loud shouting came from just beyond the Ark's gates, and Clarke whirled around to see a familiar figure waving at her through the fence. Octavia held both arms above her head, clearly trying to get her attention, and even from a distance, Clarke could see the frantic expression on her face. The stink of fear and desperation curdled in Clarke's nose, and she recoiled instinctively. Whatever was wrong with the omega, she was very clearly terrified.

Abby signaled to the guards to stand down, shouting, “Don't shoot! She's one of us!” As soon as the muzzles of their guns went down, Octavia stormed inside the fence, her face contorted in misery and streaked with tears. She was clearly exhausted, and looked like she'd run here all the way from the forest—she staggered the last few steps inside the compound, and would have collapsed if Abby hadn’t caught her.

“Octavia, what happened? What’s wrong?” Clarke said, extracting herself from Lexa's embrace and racing over to her friend.

For a long moment, all Octavia could do was gasp, desperately attempting to recover her breath. All Clarke could think to do was rub her back soothingly, chewing her lip as she exchanged a nervous glance with Lexa, who had followed hot on her heels. When Octavia managed to settle her breathing, the first word out of her mouth was, “Lincoln!”

Clarke noticed Lexa give a start, something approaching fear creeping across her face. “What happened?” the alpha said swiftly. “Has he hurt someone?”

Octavia shook her head vigorously, her breath coming in shuddering sobs. “No, he…I was keeping watch where he was tied to the tree, and when he woke up I thought he might…” The other omega hung her head.

“Go on,” Lexa said gently, making Clarke's heart throb with affection for her mate.

“He was growling and snarling, like before, but then he started shaking, and his eyes were rolling back in his head, and foam started coming from his mouth…and then he slumped over in his bonds. I thought he might be dead, but when I checked his pulse it was still beating…just really, really slow.”

“That sounds like a seizure,” Abby said in her brisk Dr. Griffin voice. “We need to get him to the medical bay right now!”

“In there?” Lexa said harshly, flinging her arm towards the Ark. “So you can imprison him again? I don’t think so.”

Clarke could have screamed at how pigheaded her mate was being, and at her mother when Abby turned an icy gaze on the younger alpha. “To  _ save  _ him. Unless you’d like him to die?”

“He's dead already,” Lexa snarled, pain written clearly on her face despite her rough tone. But Octavia was having none of it.

“He's not!” she cried, turning to face down the Commander. “I know that’s how it was before, but  _ Skaikru  _ have medicine that you don’t. If there’s any hope of saving him, any at all,  _ please… _ you need to let us try.”

Clarke could scarcely breathe as she watched her mate lock gazes with her mother. She was prepared to step in and demand that Lexa allow them to attempt to treat Lincoln if need be, but while Lexa's guard was up, she wasn’t unreasonable. After a long moment of staring intently at Abby, the Commander seemed to see something in the Chancellor's face that satisfied her instincts to protect her pack. She gave the older alpha a short nod. “Do what you can to save him. But if you attempt to take him captive, or prolong his suffering, I am prepared to give him the warrior's death he deserves.”

* * *

Lexa waited impatiently beside the door of the medical bay, shoulders stiff and fists clenched. After some more growling, Abby had allowed some of her beta warriors to accompany her inside the compound—'for protection', Clarke had insisted, more times than Lexa could count. But they didn't make her feel any safer, even though she had demanded that they be allowed to keep their weapons. She didn't like the look of the  _ Skaikru  _ guards eyeing her from a short distance away, holding their  _ fayogon  _ close. She didn't like the tense silence, or the unnaturally bright lights. The room Clarke had led her to smelled like alien chemicals—stinging metal and alcohol were the best descriptions her nose could come up with—and the unfamiliar stink set her on edge. She started pumping out her own pheromones, trying to fill the room with something more palatable.

"Stop that," Clarke murmured in a low voice, taking her hand. "It's fine, Lexa. I know this place is strange to you, but my mom knows what she's doing. Lincoln's going to be fine."

Lexa relaxed at her mate's soothing, but only the slightest bit. "Save your reassurances for Octavia," she said, although she didn't let go of Clarke's hand, either. "She needs them more than I do."

The other omega had accompanied them, as had Bellamy and Finn. Both were doing their best to comfort her, but it wasn't going well. Octavia's face was streaked with tears, and she looked at once both anxious and exhausted. Though she vibrated with fearful energy, her eyes fluttered as though she were about to pass out.

"Look, you don't need to be in here," Finn said. "Let Abby take care of this. You trust Abby, right?"

Octavia didn't bother responding. She simply gave him a disgusted look, as though she couldn't believe he would even suggest such a thing.

Lexa glanced at Bellamy, expecting him to voice similar objections, but to her surprise and approval, he shook his head at Finn as well. "Not your call, Finn. Not mine either. Octavia does what Octavia wants. Believe me, I don't always like it either." But he placed a hand on his sister’s shoulder, and for a moment, her pain-lines became a little smoother.

Until the screaming started.

A roar followed, accompanied by a smell even worse than the medical bay - like a wounded animal close to death. Lexa turned to see Abby and a beta male rush into the room, speaking rapidly and carrying either side of a stretcher. "Everyone, clear out and let me get him on the table," Abby barked, and even Lexa backed up along with the others at the command. "Jackson, I need BZs. Now! He looks like he's going to seize again—"

She barely got the words out before Lincoln's body started jerking on the table. Abby turned him onto his side, and Lexa's stomach churned as a line of fizzy pink foam poured from his shaking lips to stain the polished metal. She hung her head, casting a sympathetic look toward Octavia. The omega had broken free of Bellamy's hold and was hovering near the table, a picture of tortured protectiveness. Sweat poured down her dirt-smudged face, and Lexa suspected the streams cutting through the grime on her cheeks came from tears as well.

The beta male, Jackson, returned with a clear vial of some sort, one with a needle on the end, and Lexa watched intently as he passed it to Abby. The older alpha yanked Lincoln's arm back—an impressive feat of strength, considering the warrior’s size and his jerking movements—and slid the needle neatly into his forearm, just below the elbow. A few moments later, the spasms stopped. Lincoln went still on the table, leaving the room eerily silent, and Abby withdrew the needle. Then, she finally did something Lexa recognized. She put her fingers to Lincoln's neck, and a dark cloud passed over her face.

"Shit, we don't have a pulse." Abby placed both of her palms on Lincoln's chest, and then pushed down. A sickening crack ruptured the sound of heavy, frightened breathing, and Lexa recognized the sound of bones breaking. Her fists clenched, her nails digging furrows into her palms, and her lip curled up in a snarl. But before the sound could burst from her throat, she felt the gentle touch of Clarke's hand on her wrist.

Tearing her eyes away from the sight of the  _ Skaikru _ healer continuing to put pressure on Lincoln's chest, eliciting sickening grinding sounds, Lexa turned frantically to her mate. “But Clarke, she—”

“Just wait,” Clarke said softly, her thumb rubbing soothing patterns on Lexa's skin and her scent filtered through with calming pheromones that the alpha couldn’t help leaning into. “His heart’s stopped. My mom is gonna restart it.” 

“But she broke his  _ chest! _ How is she—”

“Better alive with broken ribs than dead with intact ones,” Clarke said, a little more firmly. 

Ultimately, it was the bright steel of conviction and confidence in her mother's skills that convinced Lexa to subside.  _ But not for long. If all she’s doing is mutilating his body, I will put a stop to it.  _

The chest compressions continued, as well as the sound of bones grinding together, as Abby panted and sweated over Lincoln's motionless form. It seemed to go on forever to Lexa, but it could only have been a few minutes before the older alpha sighed harshly, swiped an arm across her brow, and then barked at her beta assistant, “It's not working. Can we get a charge on the paddles?” 

Jackson shook his head. “All the electricity's been diverted to the fence.” 

“Fuck,” Abby snarled. The scent of desperation twisted itself up in the already cloying smell of death, and Lexa had to put a hand over her nose. She felt dizzy, watching this happen to Lincoln, a proud warrior, one of her own. If Lincoln had been in the care of her own healers, they would have granted him a swift, gentle passage to the next shore by now. It would be a mercy. This—this was just barbaric. There was no other word for it.

Abby had turned away from the table, bracing her arms on a nearby workbench. Without any new orders, the beta resumed chest compressions, every so often casting a nervous glance at his leader. Octavia was crying in the corner, her tears streaming silently down her face as her brother held her up. Abby looked drained, exhausted, yet still determined, but Lexa had had enough. There was nothing further they could do for Lincoln, and their efforts were just needlessly mutilating his body, and distressing his bereft mate further. Lexa felt her heart tug in sympathy for Octavia. Even though the circumstances were different, she knew very well how the omega must feel. 

Stepping forward, she mustered all the command that she could under the circumstances, willing her scent to pump out strongly enough to cut through the stench. _ “Em pleni,” _ she ordered, nodding at Jackson. While she realized belatedly that he couldn’t have understood the words, he backed away from the table at her approach, looking terrified. “You’ve done all you can for him,” she said, attempting to smooth out the roughness in her tone. “We will take him to where his body can be prepared for the proper rites of his people.” 

To her shock, Octavia broke loose of her brother's hold and rushed to place herself in front of her mate, snarling. “Don’t you fucking touch him!” 

“I know it's hard, Octavia,” Lexa said, struggling to keep her voice calm and level, “but his fight is over.”

Several of Lexa's beta guards stepped forward as well, reaching out to draw Octavia aside as gently as possible, but she lashed out, catching Grensen with a painful blow to the ear. The tension in the room erupted,  _ Trikru _ drawing their weapons with angry growls and  _ Skaikru _ rushing forward to close ranks around Octavia and her fallen mate. Several of them whipped out black batons from their belts, buzzing to life with electricity at the press of a button and promising a painful shock if they connected. Lexa found her own hand creeping to her sword, her fingers curling around the hilt and digging into the grip, hard enough to hurt.

To Lexa’s surprise and outrage, Clarke and her companions reacted almost in unison. Bellamy, Finn, and Clarke pushed forward through the lines of bristling  _ Trikru _ and Sky People, unarmed yet holding all of them at bay. Lexa snarled with helpless fury at the sudden danger to her mate. “Clarke, step aside. We need to take him.”

“Like hell you do,” snapped one of the  _ Skaikru  _ guards, raising his baton threateningly in her direction.    
Eyes wide, Clarke held out a hand in the direction of both Lexa and the guard. “Woah, okay! No. Let's all calm down, okay? Nobody needs to get hurt.” 

“No one will,” Lexa said through gritted teeth, “if they comply.  _ Step. Aside. Clarke.” _

But Clarke just shook her head. Lexa let out another snarl, but there didn’t seem to be anything she could do. She couldn’t leave without Lincoln's body—who knew what else the  _ Skaikru _ would try to do to him?—but she also couldn’t attack without risking her mate's life. She was caught in an intractable situation, and she could tell by the way that Clarke was gazing at her, eyes both brazen and yet sad, that the omega knew it too.

“Miller, give me your baton!” 

Abby's voice cracked through the air like a whip, carving neatly through the tension in the air and leaving them all blinking foolishly. It took the guard a few seconds to respond. “My baton? Chancellor, what—”

_ “Now!” _

The older alpha’s tone brooked no argument. The moment Miller lowered his weapon tentatively, Abby snatched it from him, barked at everyone to get back. Then she raised the crackling baton high in the air before bringing it down in the center of Lincoln's chest.

The buzzing baton spat and hissed, and the smell of burning flesh bit into Lexa's nose. Lincoln’s back arched as though he were spasming in pain, every muscle contracting to the point where the rod touched his chest. When the buzzing stopped, he slumped to the table, motionless. For a moment, the room was quiet except for the ragged breathing of its occupants. 

And then, to Lexa’s total astonishment, Lincoln sucked in a gulping breath, like a drowning man breaching a surface he never thought he’d see again. His eyes snapped open, and flecks of white foam flew from his mouth as he tried to draw in more air. Lexa stared in shock, unable to believe what she had just witnessed. He had been dead. She'd seen his fight end herself. And now...

_ "Keryon," _ she said, when she could form words again.  _ "Gonakru, shuda daun." _

Her warriors lowered their weapons, and after a few tense seconds, the  _ Skaikru  _ guards did the same. Lexa approached the table where Abby was still hovering over Lincoln. "He's all right for the moment, Commander," she said, in a voice made slightly brighter by her success. "We'll have to keep a close eye on him, but his vitals seem to be stabilizing."

Lexa wasn't sure what Abby meant, but she gave the other alpha a nod of respect and approval. "You have my thanks, Abby Griffin. What I have just witnessed is nothing short of a miracle. You brought one of my warriors back from the dead."

"A warrior who might have important information about the Mountain, Mom," Clarke said. She approached the table as well, looking down at Lincoln's face. Lexa had no medical training, but his color seemed to be returning from what she could see, and though his face was smudged with dirt and sweat, his eyes seemed remarkably clear—far clearer than they had been when he had attacked Octavia in the forest.

"Lincoln!" As if thinking about the omega had summoned her, Octavia rushed forward, pushing all three of them aside. Lexa took a small step back and watched as Octavia bent over her mate, resting her head on his shoulder, breathing him in. "Lincoln, can you hear me? Are you all right?"

Recognition stirred in Lincoln's features. Slowly, he lifted one of his large hands, caressing the side of Octavia's cheek. The stared into each other's eyes, and at last, Lincoln's lips formed words. "Octavia..."

"He's back," Lexa said, with a rare smile. "That is the  _ Linkon _ I know."

"You mean he wasn't himself before?" Abby asked, brow furrowed in confusion.

"No. The  _ Maunon _ took him and turned him into a  _ Ripa. _ They use some kind of red water to control our people. The ones who return, return as monsters."

To Lexa's surprise, Abby nodded as if the statement made sense. "Red water? That sounds like some kind of drug. Withdrawal symptoms could definitely explain the seizures. We have most of what we need to treat him here."

"Oh thank God," Octavia said, shooting Abby a grateful, tearful look. "So he's going to be okay?"

Abby nodded. "The benzodiazepine I gave him should prevent any more seizures. Barring that, it's just a matter of treating his symptoms to make him more comfortable."

"Tunnels..." The sound of Lincoln's rasping voice had them all bending their heads again. Lincoln took a rasping breath, summoning his strength, but when he spoke, the words came clearly. "They gave it to us...in the tunnels...the red water. It sets your body on fire."

"What tunnels?" Lexa asked, a little more sharply than she had intended. "You mean the other entrance to the mountain besides the gate?"

"Yes. For the  _ Ripa. _ And...prisoners..."

"Get a map," Lexa said, speaking to one of her warriors. " _ Linkon, _ I need you to try and remember where the entrance to those tunnels is located. That could be our way inside."

Lincoln tried to nod his head, but failing that, his lips twitched in a smile of agreement.  _ "Sha, Heda. _ I can do it."

"You've done well,  _ Linkon, _ " Lexa said, folding her arms behind her back and straightening her shoulders. "Your fight is not over, and thanks to you, we may be able to save the others as well."

Clarke spoke up, her voice full of excitement. “I’ll contact Anya and Raven with the system. Maybe they can figure out where the tunnels end on their blueprints and meet us inside!”

“There’s still the acid fog,” Bellamy said, sounding much less enthusiastic. “How do we know the mountain won’t burn us all before we can even get close?”

“Raven will take care of it,” Finn said. “If anyone can shut down the fog long enough for us to get inside, it’s her. Now that we have a way in, we have a chance.”

* * *

Anya moved carefully along a deserted corridor between one hiding spot and another, using the cover of its randomly flickering lights to keep out of sight of the cameras. Raven had managed to slip into the surveillance room a few hours ago after deliberately setting off some kind of alarm, and in the ensuing chaos had made quite a few additions to their maps of the Mountain. Now Anya had more or less complete knowledge of everywhere in the facility where the cameras had failed, where lights had begun to sputter and die, and, most importantly, where entire corridors had been abandoned due to the stronghold's dwindling population. 

It made a macabre sort of sense, Anya couldn’t help thinking, that in their desperation to cling to life the  _ Maunon _ might cling to such measures as draining the blood of their captives, or cracking open their bones to steal their marrow. But that didn’t make it excusable, and it didn’t erase the things she’d seen in this place, things she knew she’d be revisiting in her nightmares for the rest of her life.  _ However long that lasts. Likely not long, if Lexa and the  _ Skaikru _ can't stop arguing over how to free us.  _

The alpha had nearly reached the next hiding spot in her route—a string of places that Raven had identified as safe for at least a few hours, long enough for her to evade suspicion or catch a few hours of badly needed sleep—when the radio at her hip began to let out bursts of quiet static in a distinct rhythm that Raven had taught her meant CQ: a call for attention. Anya fumbled the device out of its holster on her hip, then carefully clicked the call button in the sequence that she'd learned meant HR:  _ here _ . A moment passed as the warrior wondered whether she’d gotten it wrong, but then the radio buzzed to life once more:  _ OK?  _

Anya hastened down the hall to the dusty storage closet that Raven had marked out as next on her list of stops. She’d be here for the next three hours, when a patrol would come by, flick the light on to make certain it still worked, stick their heads in, and then leave. She was meant to be gone by then, but for the next few hours, she would be safe—and the  _ Skaikru _ beta would know where to find her. That fact gave her more comfort than she was prepared to acknowledge, but she sighed as she sank to the floor on a pile of ancient mattresses, glad to get off her feet. Sooner or later she’d have to figure out what this was between them, but thankfully she had a life-threatening situation in between her and what would undoubtedly be worse.

“I’m in a safe location,” Anya said, speaking quietly into the radio's mouthpiece. “Go ahead, Ark Station.” The words felt odd and clunky in her mouth, but she held onto the fact that they were Raven's.

Another burst of static, this one clearly unintentional, and Anya twisted the volume down anxiously. It soon resolved into a mess of several voices attempting to speak over one another. From the tangle, she thought she could pick out Lexa's and Clarke's, and then an unfamiliar tone, but the final voice she heard made the hairs stand up on the back of her neck.

Linkon… _ how?  _

It was like hearing a ghost speak. He had been taken by the initial attack, same as the rest of them, but he had been separated from them early on due to his alpha status, and Anya had not expected ever to see him again…not alive, anyhow. If they did meet again while he was still breathing, he would not be what he was. He would be a monster, a  _ Ripa, _ his sole purpose to kill and maim in the most gruesome of ways. She had not yet mourned him properly—his fight might have been over, but hers was not—but she had anticipated the need to do so with a heavy heart.

And yet here he was, speaking calmly over the squabbling fracas, and speaking sense. “Chancellor, Commander, I mean no disrespect, but if I am to explain the plan I think it would be best if only one person spoke at a time.” 

Anya let out a breath. She badly wanted to click the call button again and demand that her  _ gona  _ explain this miracle, but she knew there wasn’t time. A moment later, she heard the low mutterings of an affirmative, and then the voice of her former  _ Seken. _

“Go ahead,  _ Linkon.” _

There were a few rustles, presumably the warrior drawing himself closer, as his voice was louder when he spoke next. “There is a place where the Reapers enter the Mountain,” Lincoln said, his words hoarse and heavy with exhaustion. “Where they bring their captives, and where they go to get their next shot of…of the Red.” Anya swallowed hard, her fist tightening around the radio until it creaked at the thought of what the other alpha must have been through. “There’s a door into the Mountain there, where the  _ Maunon  _ come out to sort the ones the Reapers bring in and give us the shots. It’s guarded, and it won’t be easy to break down, but it’s not like the main door. A small group of warriors, moving quickly and quietly, can take whatever resistance they might put up, and with the explosives that  _ Skaikru  _ have, we they can break through to the harvest chamber.”

Anya’s brain was whirring at top speed through all of the implications of what Lincoln was saying. It made sense. That must be the tunnels in which they’d awakened, bound and captive and blindfolded. That would lead into the massive hall in which they’d been forced to shower, and then taken away to the cages… Pieces were slotting themselves into place in her mental map of the facility.

“If the entrance is where I think it is, it’s not far from where our people are held,” she said swiftly into the radio. “We could split into two teams, one to find  _ Skaikru,  _ and the other to release our people. Many there are weak from blood loss, but my  _ gonakru  _ are still in there. They can help facilitate the escape and maybe even help us fight.”

“Good,” came Lexa’s voice, short and direct. “But there is more.  _ Linkon,  _ continue.”

“Your biggest advantage will be that the  _ Maunon  _ don’t think anyone knows about the passage,” the warrior said, his words coming more slowly, labored. He was clearly at the end of his strength, but he persevered, and Anya felt her heart squeeze with affection for him. He was clearly not the traitor she’d assumed him to be when he’d first begun helping  _ Skaikru.  _ He had merely seen something that she had not. “But that still leaves the acid fog.”

Anya’s blood ran cold. She had seen the effects of the fog firsthand, the way it ate away at first the clothing, then the skin, then the muscles and everything else of those who didn’t make it to safety in time. The fog was brutally efficient. By the time it had cleared, nothing was left of its victims but bleached bones.

“If the infiltration team is stealthy enough, they might be able to make it to the passage without being detected,” Lincoln continued, but doubt riddled his words, and Anya knew he had the same images playing through his mind.

“And if they see you, they’ll deploy the fog,” Anya said dully.

“It’s a big risk,” came a third voice—Clarke’s. “Which is why we were hoping you’d speak to Raven, and explain the plan. Maybe she can figure out a way to shut off the acid fog from the inside. Even if it’s only for a few moments, it might buy us enough time to reach the Reaper tunnels and take out the door.”

Anya couldn’t help but chuckle. “I’m sure she can think of something. There doesn’t seem to be much of a limit to what you  _ Skaikru  _ can do with a little bit of gunpowder and ingenuity.”

“No, there doesn’t,” Lexa said, and Anya rolled her eyes at the affection in the younger alpha’s voice, but she bit back her usual mocking commentary, remembering the kiss that she and the  _ Skaikru  _ beta had shared.

_ “Ait,”  _ the warrior said. “I will speak with  _ Reivon,  _ and we will contact you when we know more.”

“Over and out,” Clarke said, and switched off the radio.

Anya swiftly turned the dial to the frequency that Raven had chosen as theirs alone, and clicked the call button in the sequence that would let the beta know she wanted to meet. As soon as the mechanic was able to slip away, she would consult the copy of the map she’d stashed with her clothes, and would come to find Anya as soon as it was safe. The alpha would repeat the call every fifteen minutes or so, to make sure that Raven had heard, but until she heard the sequence that told her the beta was on her way, there was nothing she could do but hunker down and wait.

She could only hope that it wouldn’t be too late. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigedasleng:
> 
> Niron: loved one
> 
> Fayogon: guns
> 
> Gonasleng: English
> 
> Em pleni: enough
> 
> Keryon: Spirit
> 
> Gonakru, shuda daun: Warriors, weapons down
> 
> Sha, Heda: Yes, Commander
> 
> Gona: warrior
> 
> Ait: All right


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Getting pretty close to the end, kru, but first, there be smut! Those of you who are thirsty for Clexa babies...will not be disappointed ;P 
> 
> As per usual, let Rae and me know what you thought in the comments and on tumblr @raedmagdon and @n1ghtwr1ter! Also, our awesome new cover is courtesy of the amazing @green78, who possesses not only brilliant Photoshop skills but is also an incredible writer in her own right! You should go check her out and give her a follow :)
> 
> [](http://s558.photobucket.com/user/calfaolan/media/green78%20-%20twon%20cover_zpskkb485uj.jpg.html)   
> 

Raven glared at the blueprints spread across the dusty old gym mats, as though if she looked at them angrily enough they would be frightened into making sense.  _ Access corridor…research labs…generator twelve…harvest chamber…  _ The names of each location gradually blurred together, and she rubbed her exhausted eyes, willing herself to continue. Somewhere around here had to be the room from where the acid fog was unleashed.  _ It  _ has  _ to be somewhere I just haven’t looked yet. And when I find it, I’m gonna make it go boom. _

“Have you found anything?”

Anya’s voice made Raven’s head snap up, and a guilty blush sprang to her cheeks. The Grounder alpha had fallen asleep on a pile of gym mats about an hour ago, and she had looked so careworn and exhausted that Raven hadn’t had the heart to wake her up. Of course, she’d also spent a significant amount of that time watching Anya sleep and thinking about the way the alpha’s lips had felt against her own, which might be a good part of why she didn’t have anything to show for herself.

“Not yet,” Raven said sheepishly, “but I’m still looking. This place is a warren, and I can’t tell which areas are still in use or not. It could be anywhere, honestly.”

Anya tugged a sheaf of the blueprints over to herself, frowning at them. “These two pieces look the same,” she said, holding up a pair of pages. “Why make duplicates?”

Raven took the pages from her and studied them. “They’re not. This is for the sixth floor, and this is for the eighth. You’re right, though – they’re pretty much exactly the same. Not a lot of call for differentiated architecture when you’re building a bunker for the end of the world, I guess.”

Anya cocked her head. “Perhaps… But do you think it likely that they have more than one room dedicated to generating the acid fog? They may not have labeled it, but it will most certainly be unique.”

Raven could have kissed her, and all of a sudden couldn’t remember why she shouldn’t. Lurching out of her cross-legged position, she grabbed the alpha’s face with both hands and pressed her lips swiftly but firmly to Anya’s. “Dammit, Anya, you’re a genius!” Beaming, she returned to shuffling through the blueprints until she found what she was looking for. Where every other page was honeycombed with rooms, the one for the thirteenth floor just had a large open area marked  _ Tank Room. _

“Bingo,” Raven muttered gleefully to herself. “They’re probably keeping the chemical mixture in holding tanks down there. All we need is a few well-placed propane torches and one little spark, and this Mountain’s weather is gonna get a lot less foggy.”

Anya was staring at her quizzically. “Sometimes I am not certain whether you’re speaking  _ Gonasleng  _ or your own made-up gibberish tongue.”

Raven’s grin widened. “Bit of both, usually. Let me translate from engineer to English:  _ boom.” _

The alpha nodded, but her expression still looked troubled. “What’s wrong?” Raven asked, shuffling a bit closer across the mat. “It’s gonna be easy from here on out. Well, not easy –  _ simple.  _ We just have to make it to the storage room without being seen, steal some propane torches, rig them to the acid fog tanks in the right places, then get the hell out before they –”

“And will it be dangerous?” Anya said, with the air of someone making a statement, not asking a question.

“Well, yeah,” Raven replied, uncertain as to where this was going. “If we get caught –”

“I will create a diversion,” Anya said, in a commanding tone that made Raven shiver despite herself. “I will reveal myself to the guards and lead them away from you. I should be able to lose them in the abandoned parts of the facility, and then I can circle back around and meet you here.”

“Won’t  _ that  _ be dangerous?” Raven demanded, struggling to keep herself from crushing the precious blueprint in her fist.

“Yes, of course. But not so dangerous as if you get held up in the tank room, somehow, and are unable to escape the blast in time –”

“Oh yeah? And what if one of them shoots you? What if they corner you and capture you and turn you into a Reaper? What if –”

Her increasingly rapid words were cut off by the hard press of a warm, soft mouth against her own. Anya’s tongue slid against her lips, and she opened them eagerly to allow the alpha entry. She felt like she could lose herself forever in the smooth heat and glide of Anya’s kiss. It probably went on for several minutes, but it was over too soon, Anya pulling away with obvious effort.

“It will be dangerous for both of us,  _ Reivon,”  _ she said, gazing into the beta’s eyes with clear care and concern. “But we are not without our own skills. I believe that our fights will not end today. We will bring down the Mountain, and help to free our people.”

The alpha’s words rang with conviction, and despite her habitual cynicism, Raven found herself nodding. “And there’ll be more of the kissing thing after, right?” she said, a little breathlessly, and Anya laughed.

“Yes, and more, if you want it.”

“I  _ do  _ want it,” Raven insisted, pressing another hard kiss to Anya’s lips. “But – after.”

“Yes,” Anya murmured, and now it was her turn to sound breathless. Raven grinned, but sobered quickly.

“After it’s done, we’ll meet up here and call the Ark to tell them it’s time to attack. Together, okay?”

Anya nodded. After a moment’s hesitation, Raven held out her hand to be clasped in the Grounder style, and Anya took it. “May we meet again,” the beta said.

Recognizing the ritual, if not the words, the Grounder repeated, “May we meet again.”

***

Lexa studied the map spread atop the low wooden table, twirling her dagger without looking as she committed the patch of terrain Lincoln had marked to memory. An 'X' slashed over the location of the tunnel entrance, written in a shaking hand, but there were no nearby landmarks. The closest thing her scouts had recorded on the map was an old, faint game trail that even the  _ trilipa _ had abandoned, if the reports were to be believed. Not that Lexa could blame the animals for fleeing. The only thing worse than imagining the poison eating her flesh from her bones was the thought of Clarke suffering the same fate. 

_ Yu laik Heda.  _ She stopped playing with her blade, drawing in a deep breath.  _ You have a nation to worry for. You cannot indulge personal fears while your people need you. _ But for once, the inner calm she drew upon when her feelings threatened to break through the mask of the Commander was nowhere to be found. Clarke, Costia—both faces flashed to the front of her mind, and she forgot the map completely.

She blinked rapidly, struggling to suppress the memory of her first mate's sightless eyes staring back at her from a slack face. Costia's death had nearly broken her, and though she and Clarke had only known each other for a few weeks, Lexa knew she would feel her second mate's loss just as keenly. It had taken all of her strength to hold herself together the first time and invite Nia into her coalition. She didn't know if she could survive such pain again.

Strangely, the thought of dying was reassuring, if a bit selfish. As long as her fight ended in service to her people—in service to Clarke—it would be a good death. An acceptable conclusion. But if it was to be her end, that meant goodbyes and some explanations were in order. The least she could do was offer Clarke what she had never gotten before Costia’s murder: a proper farewell, and a last  _ I love you.  _ Just in case.

Lexa sheathed her dagger and rose from her stool, calling beyond the tent's flap as she stood.  _ "Gostos, lid Klark kom Skaikru in." _

To her surprise, another scent curled into her nose, one much sweeter than the smell of her trusty guard. It was instantly soothing, and she found herself heaving a sigh, emptying her lungs so she could take in even more on the next breath. Omega. Clarke. Her mate.

"I'm guessing you were about to ask Gustus to come and find me?" Clarke’s low voice said, and Lexa turned to see a sweet, heart-shaped face framed by familiar waves of golden hair.

_ "Klark. _ I see you did not need an escort.”

Clarke stepped into the tent, closing the flap behind her. “Not for my mom’s lack of trying,” she muttered, only a little sourly. “The guards were easier. They let me in without a word.”

“Not surprising. You are my mate.” Although she wanted to open her arms and invite Clarke into an embrace, she folded them behind her back instead, squaring her shoulders. There were things she needed to say. Explanations she needed to give. Truths she needed to confess.  _ “Klark…” _ She swallowed, her voice caught beneath the lump in her throat. She hardly knew where to begin. If this was to be their last night together...

Before she could regain her voice, Clarke stepped forward, taking her hands and lacing their fingers together. “You’re afraid about tomorrow, aren’t you? About what will happen if we fail?”

Lexa tried to avert her gaze, but the deep blue ocean of Clarke’s eyes sucked her in. The lump in her throat loosened at last, and she brought their joined hands up to one of Clarke’s cheeks, caressing it with all the tenderness she couldn’t put into words. Old walls crumbled, and her heart splintered. Titus had warned her. Anya had warned her. Indra and everyone else she had ever looked to as a mentor, adviser, and friend had warned her.  _ Hodnes laik kwelnes. _ Love is weakness.

But when she held Clarke’s hands, she didn’t feel weak. Vulnerable, yes, when she looked into Clarke’s eyes. Terrified, certainly, as she traced her fingertips down to the mark on Clarke’s throat. But not weak.

All of these words and emotions rushed through her head like a flood tide, swamping her throat when she tried to speak. All she could do was stare into Clarke's eyes and hope that the omega could somehow glean some of those feelings wordlessly, before they began to leak from her own eyes in a torrent that she was afraid might never stop. But she shouldn’t have worried, because Clarke seemed to understand exactly what was stuck in her mouth, refusing to come out. She leaned up and pressed her lips to Lexa's in a gentle kiss.

Lexa felt herself melt into the Clarke’s mouth with embarrassing swiftness, a sensation like the first spring rains washing away the last of winter's ice. She could not stop herself from leaning in and deepening the kiss. Almost of their own volition, her hands came up to grip Clarke’s waist, pulling the omega into her and encouraging her to press her curves along Lexa’s body.

The perfect way they fit together made her strangle a groan. It was as though they had been fashioned for each other out of a piece of the same material, despite being of completely different worlds. Everything—every circumstance, every facet of probability, every molecule of likelihood—went against their ever meeting, let alone falling into each other in the way they had, and falling  _ for  _ each other the way they were now…

A thought struck her then which chilled her to the core, startling her out of basking in the warm wash of comfort that was Clarke’s hands on her body, Clarke’s lips against her own. She had to know if her feelings were returned, if Clarke also experienced the magnetic pull that had brought them together from worlds away. She broke the kiss with a gasp, meeting the Sky girl’s concerned, questioning gaze.

“Lexa, what’s wrong?”

The correct answer was  _ Nothing,  _ because she was here with Clarke, and Clarke was holding her and kissing her and looking at her like that; but it was also  _ everything,  _ because tomorrow all of this—Clarke, herself, who they were together—could be gone. She opened her mouth to try to say something to that effect, but what came out instead was,  _ “Ai hod yu in.” _

Lexa shut her eyes a moment later, wishing that she could take back the words, but when she looked at Clarke again, her mate was only frowning at her in confusion. “I’m sorry, but I don’t know what that means, Lexa.”

The alpha felt like her heart was going to beat out of her chest. Of course. She’d said it in Trigedasleng, which Clarke couldn’t have understood. She had a way out of this! She could just make something up, and then go around to Anya and Lincoln and Octavia and all of her warriors whom Clarke might have reason to ask, and tell them…what? ‘Pretend like this means something other than it does for the rest of your life, or until I find the courage to actually tell Clarke the truth?’  _ And how long is that going to take,  _ Leksa? she mocked herself.  _ A year? Two? Or will you pass the responsibility on with the Spirit, and let the next Commander handle it? _

“Hello, Ark to Lexa?” Clarke was saying with a nervous laugh, waving her hand in front of Lexa’s face. “You okay in there?”

Lexa shook her head. “Yes, of course, I…” She trailed off, lies dying on her tongue in the light of Clarke’s gaze.  _ I can’t lie to her. It would be like lying to myself—a deception that would require years of pain and effort, and would bring only unhappiness to us both.  _ Not for the first time since meeting Clarke Griffin, she felt herself trembling on the edge of a precipice. Only this time, she had put herself there, with only the hope that if she let herself go, she would be able to fly.

“It means…I love you.”

To her relief, she didn't have to wait for Clarke's response. A smile of pure joy broke across the omega's face, more beautiful than any sunrise Lexa had ever seen. "I know it seems crazy," Clarke said, glowing with a gorgeous aura of happiness, "but I love you, too."

"You mean you could grow to love me, given time?" Lexa asked, her voice wavering. Time was something they might not have the luxury of enjoying together, depending on what the next day brought.

"No, you idiot," Clarke said, beginning to laugh. "I mean I love you now. I don't know how it happened, but it's there. So you'd better know how to use those fancy swords you're always showing off, because we've got people to rescue before we can ride off into the sunset."

"It is impossible to reach the sunset, Clarke," Lexa said, unsure what else to say. Clarke's confession had struck her dumb, and she felt every bit as awkward as the ungainly pup she had once been under Anya's tutelage. The Sky Girl had a way of undoing all of the protective layers in which she wrapped herself with a single glance, a single touch.

"Maybe," Clarke said, "but I'm from outer space. I can show you stars." She grinned, raising her eyebrows hopefully, and Lexa couldn't help laughing. This was the silliest, most awkward, most wonderful conversation she had ever been a part of, but somehow it had brought her a sense of peace at last. Still shaking her head in amusement, Lexa cupped Clarke's cheek, leaning in to kiss her again.

They traded kisses and shed clothes as they stumbled toward Lexa's sleeping cot, so occupied with each other's lips that the process took a very long time. Lexa savored every bit of the journey, as well as every inch of Clarke's skin that she exposed. She spent a considerable amount of time kissing along the curve of Clarke's throat, and even more stroking the trembling muscles of Clarke's belly beneath her shirt. Her hands felt at home there, and Clarke let out a low moan into her mouth as they found a comfortable hold on the omega's waist.

But Clarke wasn't content to be steered anywhere. She began unfastening buckles and tugging at straps, peeling the leather away. "Why...are your clothes...so hard...to take off?" she mumbled into the rapidly diminishing space between their mouths, and Lexa couldn't help feeling sorry for her. She knew the same frustration. She wanted every inch of Clarke's flesh bare beneath her palms so she could drink it in. She ached for their bodies to join, and that couldn't happen while they were still dressed.

With a considerable amount of effort, and even more reluctance, she untangled herself from Clarke's greedy arms and began stripping, only to have her hands batted away. "No," Clarke said, staring at her with those gorgeous blue eyes—the ones Lexa could never resist. "Let me. Please?"

Lexa swallowed. Nodded. She held her arms away from her sides a little bit to make Clarke's job easier, but the omega didn't have any trouble. Without kisses as distractions, she made quick work of Lexa's cape and gauntlets, and her shirt and breastband followed soon after. She tossed most of the items to the floor, but held on to the cape, bringing it up to her face for a moment. "Ugh, I just…” Clarke sniffed, inhaling deeply. “I wish I had something like this to wear tomorrow. I know you have to look like the Commander, but it smells like you and—”

"Oh!" Lexa said, cursing herself twelve times for a fool. "Well, it might look...strange...for my people to see someone else wearing  _ Heda’s  _ sash of office, but I thought…” Reaching under her cot, she pulled out a small trunk that she’d told her guards to deliver to her tent immediately once they arrived with the wagon. Opening it, she put aside a set of plain but sturdy gauntlets and greaves before pulling out a studded pauldron, from which flowed a sky blue cape. She had spent far longer in the weaver’s hut picking the fabric out than she wanted to admit, but it had felt  _ important  _ that the color match her mate’s eyes as closely as possible. “I thought we could match,” she said, stricken with sudden shyness as she passed it to Clarke. 

Clarke turned the piece of armor over and over in her hands, running her fingers along the soft fabric of the sash. “This is...incredible,” she said, voice sounding thick, and Lexa couldn’t help but take a step closer, needing to be as near to her omega as possible. “When...why…?”

“You are my mate,” the alpha said, as firmly as she could manage. “And I wanted everyone to know that.” 

After an awkward pause, where they both smiled at each other like fools, Clarke carefully set the cape aside and stripped off her own shirt, letting it flutter to the ground with everything else. Lexa stopped in the middle of reaching for her pants, unable to keep from staring. Although she had seen them several times already, Clarke's breasts were beautiful, even beneath the breastband she had insisted on trading her 'bra' for. The hard tips poked out through the fabric, and Lexa's mouth watered at the thought of taking them between her lips and rolling her tongue over them.

Revealed at last to the air, Clarke's nipples puckered instantly under Lexa's gaze, and she had to restrain herself from immediately reaching out and filling her hands with the omega's soft flesh.  _ And why, precisely, are you restraining yourself? _ she questioned herself mockingly, in a voice that sounded annoyingly like Anya's.  _ You spent three days trapped in a bunker with her, satisfying every desire she voiced and more besides. You mated her, knotted her, claimed her—so why are you now acting like a blushing pup who's just popped her first knot? _

And she  _ was _ blushing, she found, at the thought of all the ways they’d explored each other's bodies, and learned to give each other pleasure, and the ways that they were about to do so again. It was certainly not reluctance that held her back. Eagerness coiled in the pit of her stomach, and she could feel heat growing between her legs, her shaft filling with blood and beginning to extend. But there was something about tonight that felt…different, somehow, than any of the other nights they’d shared. Tonight there was no desperate call of heat, no imminent, personal fight to the death, no elation at escaping it once more. For the first time, at least until dawn's light broke and they moved with their  _ gonakru _ to strike at the Mountain's secret heart, it was only the two of them. Two women, two bodies, alpha and omega, coming together out of desire and love.

_ Em pleni, Leksa, _ she growled at herself.  _ You are being a fool, and  _ Klark _ is probably wondering if you’ve been hit on the head lately— _

“Um.” Lexa's head snapped up from where she had been caught in a contemplative trance, her eyes glued to her mate's breasts. She felt a furious blush crawl across her cheeks before she could stop it, certain that Clarke was about to call the whole thing off on account of her idiocy. But instead, the omega stepped closer, until Lexa could feel the points of Clarke’s nipples press against her own when she sucked in a breath.

“Maybe this is really weird, but… It sort of feels like the first time we've done this, in a way,” Clarke said, giving voice to the thoughts that had been churning in frantic cyclones through Lexa's brain. “I don’t know, it doesn’t make sense, because I know we’ve mated before, but…”

“Not like this,” Lexa said in a rush, bringing one hand up to cup Clarke’s cheek. The omega leaned into the touch gratefully, closing her eyes for a moment before giving Lexa a brilliant smile that, impossibly, made the Commander fall even more in love. 

“Yeah. Sort of the first time we never had, you know?”

Lexa nodded. A torrent of words strangled themselves in her throat, warring with the need she could feel stirring between her legs, but when she opened her mouth all that came out was, “We have time, Clarke. All the time in the world.”

It wasn’t true, not even close, but they both fell into the fantasy of it, and into each other, with devout conviction and fervent eagerness. Their bodies came together as one beside the bed, and though Lexa prepared to lower Clarke onto her back so she could climb on top, she found herself in quite the opposite position. Before she realized what was happening in her dreamlike state, she was seated on the edge of the mattress, gazing up at Clarke with an expression of pure love. She couldn't hide it anymore. She didn't even want to try. Clarke had breached all her defenses, and if she was wrong and love truly was weakness, then she would gladly surrender to it.

* * *

In the past few weeks, Clarke had seen many of the wonders Earth had to offer. She had seen her first sunset. Her first horse. Trees and flowers and animals and all manner of beautiful things. But nothing, not the stars she had come from nor an inch of the ground she had seen so far, was as breathtaking as Lexa.

Maybe it was the candlelight illuminating the tear streaking down the side of Lexa's lovely face. Maybe it was the way Lexa was looking up at her, full of hope. Or maybe it was just the knowledge that Lexa loved her. Lexa had actually said the words. She had made her confession, and even though Clarke had suspected before— _ niron  _ wasn't exactly subtle—everything was different. Everything was new and exciting, but also comforting and familiar, and somehow, those two things didn't contradict each other. 

Her mind wanted to go slow, to extend this dream and commit every moment to memory, but her heart couldn't wait. She wanted to be one with Lexa. To connect, to show her own love as well as speaking it aloud. This was their chance, and she wouldn't waste it. She moved to straddle Lexa's lap, pushing her gently back onto the bed and kissing her with all the tenderness she could muster.

Lexa's lips parted for hers in an instant. Their mouths tasted and took, and their hands wandered, laying bare secret places. They rolled together on the furs, limbs entwined, until Clarke found that she was no longer on top. She couldn't bring herself to protest. Lexa's weight felt so good, so right on top of her. She gave her alpha a shaking smile, laughing slightly into the kiss. It did feel, as she had said before, like the first time they had never had.

"I love you,  _ Klark," _ Lexa said, pressing a kiss to the point of her chin.

Clarke returned the gesture by pressing her lips to the middle of Lexa's forehead, where her decorative gear usually was.  _ "Ai hod yu in, Leksa." _

"Your accent is improving." Lexa's breath skimmed her jawline, a little ragged.

"I've got a talented tongue." Clarke dipped her head lower, taking the opportunity to drag her tongue along Lexa's throat. "Wanna see?"

Lexa laughed, but what came out instead was a low moan of desire. Clarke instantly knew how she felt. Just the thought of wrapping her lips around the leaking head of Lexa’s cock had her throbbing, but there were other things she wanted more—to relearn how it felt to take Lexa inside of her and keep her there. That last option seemed best. She was already painfully aroused just from kissing, aching with the need to be closer to her mate, and making love that way would allow them both to feel pleasure at once.

"Later," Lexa promised. "First, I want... I want us to..."

Clarke was relieved that her mate understood, but a second later she was struck by a thought that made her flash both hot and cold at once. "Me too. But, well, my Mom said something to me back at the Ark. About my booster shot. I'm due for another one, so we probably shouldn't..."

Understanding dawned on Lexa’s face, as well as what Clarke thought—or hoped—was disappointment. "So, if we were to..."

"Yes. I could get pregnant."

They looked at each other silently for a moment, thoughts of what Clarke’s words might mean passing through their minds. Then, both of them leaned in at once, kissing fiercely. As soon as Lexa’s lips met hers, Clarke knew she had made the right decision. She wanted this, consequences and all. She wanted to survive tomorrow's battle, to go back to Polis with Lexa, to feel new life stir in her belly and welcome the pups she'd always been told she’d have, but had never truly  _ wanted _ until meeting her mate.

Feeling Lexa's body settle along her own, the weight and heat above her, had Clarke panting within moments. That panting turned into gasps and low moans when Lexa abandoned Clarke's lips to kiss a line of fire down her neck and across her collarbone. When the alpha's teeth grazed the mating mark she’d left upon the smooth skin of Clarke's throat, the omega cried out as the fire became an inferno, raging through her body and setting her alight. Her hands came up to grasp at Lexa's back and shoulders and pull her closer, impossibly closer. Nothing could satisfy her but to have Lexa— 

“In me,” Clarke gasped, writhing frantically underneath Lexa. “Lexa, please, I need— _ ah!” _

In the time it had taken Clarke to say those words, Lexa had taken pity on her desperation and drawn her hips back, only to thrust forward and plunge the first several inches of her cock into Clarke's center. The sudden stretch made her throw her head back and cry out, but the blissful fullness, the connection, was better than she could have dreamed. The only other thing she could imagine wanting was to have Lexa sheathed fully within her, filling her completely. That was what she found herself moaning for next, shaking in Lexa's iron grip and struggling uselessly to follow her own directives: 

“More, Lexa, please, I want everything, all of you, I need all of you inside me…” 

“Shh, Clarke,” the Commander murmured, trailing kisses along Clarke's throat, her thumbs rubbing the skin over Clarke's hips soothingly. “I'm yours, I promise, all of me is yours, just be patient…”

Slowly, far too slowly for Clarke, the alpha pushed forward, sinking herself inch by inch into the slick, tight grip of Clarke's pulsing channel. Her inner walls clenched greedily around everything they found, but still she wanted more. She wanted everything, all that Lexa could give her, whether that was pleasure, or a knot, or her release flooding Clarke's womb. It seemed as though she might never get what she needed, that she would remain forever in the grip of this torturous pleasure, but then the last few inches of Lexa's cock slipped into her, and Lexa's hips slotted against her own.

The alpha fell forward, gasping, no longer able to keep herself upright—but that was just how Clarke wanted it, their bodies pressed flush, as close to one being as they possibly could be.  _ Well, almost. _ Her inner walls gave a needy flutter at the thought, and Lexa let out a groan, dropping her head to Clarke's shoulder.  _ “Jok, Klark,” _ she muttered, nipping at the mating bite, “you're going to kill me…”

“I will,” Clarke growled playfully, but with urgency running like electric current just below the surface, “if you don’t start moving soon.”

Apparently Lexa got the message, because she resumed her grasp of Clarke's hips before beginning to thrust—long, slow, deep strokes at first, drawing almost entirely out of Clarke before plunging back in to the hilt. Clarke whined and thrashed, but the alpha's grip was iron, and all she could do was surrender to the slowly building pleasure at the pit of her stomach, and the intense sensation of her mate's entire length splitting her open.

They joined again and again, moving as one, grasping at each other and clinging for dear life. Clarke blinked away the water welling in her eyes, but scarcely noticed her wavering vision. All of her emotions were heightened, and every nerve on her body had been set alight. Lexa's fingertips were licking at her like little flames, and Lexa's shaft... _Oh God, she fills me so deep._ _I want her to stay... stay inside me..._

The motion of Lexa's hips driving into hers felt wonderful, but something was missing. Something important. It took Clarke's fuzzy brain a moment to realize what it was, but she whined in a mixture of pleasure and frustration when she figured it out. Lexa's knot had finally decided to make an appearance, nudging against her clit and teasing the edges of her entrance. It bumped into her on the edge of every thrust, rubbing in all the right places, and she began bucking harder beneath Lexa, trying to take it in.

_ "Ste hosh, Klark," _ Lexa muttered into her shoulder, giving her hips a light squeeze and urging her to return to the same slow pace as before. "Let me do this for you. I wish... I want to make you feel—"

Clarke took Lexa's lips in a deep, hungry kiss, cutting her off. Lexa already made her feel so many things, filled her with too many emotions for her chest to hold. She felt like she was unraveling at the seams, but she wasn't scared. In Lexa's arms, there was nothing to be afraid of. Without another word, she gripped the firm swell of Lexa's ass, urging her mate to seal their bodies together.

The slight push was more than enough. Lexa's knot sank inside of her, and though the stretch burned, there wasn't a trace of resistance. As soon as the widest part slid forward, Clarke's muscles drew it in the rest of the way, closing tight around the other side and tying them together.  _ Oh, thank God, _ Clarke thought, her entire body melting with relief.  _ Full at last. Full of Lexa... _

Their eyes locked at the same moment, and neither of them could look away. For a moment, they were completely still, simply gazing at each other's faces in loving awe. That is, until Clarke noticed more tears trailing down Lexa's cheeks. "Why are you crying?" she asked, reaching up to caress Lexa's face.

Lexa sniffed, blinking rapidly, long lashes still carrying droplets. "You're crying, too."

Clarke laughed. She hadn't even realized it, but she thought she could feel hot streaks on her own cheeks. "You didn't answer my question."

Lexa bent down, resting their foreheads together.  _ "Oso keryon ste teina bilaik oso medo." _

_ "Oso keryon ste..." _ Clarke tried to repeat the phrase, but couldn't get past the first few syllables. "What does that mean?"

"It means..." Lexa's throat bobbed, as though she was swallowing down a thick lump of emotion. "It means our souls are entwined, just like our bodies."

Clarke's smile was broad enough to make her cheeks ache. "You're a sap, aren't you, Commander? It's okay," she hastened to add when a crease of worry appeared in Lexa's forehead. She placed a kiss there to smooth out the line, combing her fingers through Lexa's messy braid. "I love you that way."

"You love me." Lexa said the words as if she still couldn't believe them, breaking out into another grin.

Clarke stroked the tense muscles of her back, petting her in reassurance. "Yes,” she murmured, but urgency crept into her tone as she continued, “Lexa, I'm so close, please keep going, I need you to move..."

Lexa began rocking her hips again, and even though she couldn't withdraw, the motion was exactly what Clarke needed. She sighed with joy, arching to follow Lexa's movements as closely as possible. Lexa's knot felt so good inside her, shifting against her inner walls, throbbing as it grew even larger. Above it, she could feel Lexa's shaft pulsing with fullness, and her muscles rippled in response. She hadn't been lying. She was close, and she didn't know how much more she could take.

Deliberately squeezing down around Lexa's knot drove a strangled groan from her mate's throat, and Clarke shuddered as she felt the alpha's length throb in response. But then Lexa's hips jerked even harder into hers, and she couldn’t hold back her own breathless moan. Lexa was hitting her so deep, rutting into her so firmly, filling her up so well. She could almost be satisfied, could almost allow the sparks of pleasure lancing through her body to ignite into flames, driving her over the edge… But it would still be incomplete without the rush of Lexa's release inside of her, making her swell with just how much there was…  _ And maybe, someday, her pups… No.  _ Our _ pups. Our family. _

_ “Klark,” _ Lexa groaned when she squeezed down again, reflexively, at the thought. Clarke could see need warring with hesitation in her mate's eyes, and while she wasn’t without her own doubts and fears, there was also a core of certainty deep within her that this was what she wanted. And she knew, from the love shining in the alpha's eyes, that Lexa wanted this too. 

“I love you,” Clarke gasped, rocking her hips upward to meet each of the Commander's increasingly erratic thrusts. “I want you to fill me, I  _ need _ you to come inside me, please, Lexa, love you so much—”

_ “Klark!”  _

With a final thrust that brought the head of her cock firmly into contact with Clarke’s cervix, Lexa's release began pouring free, flooding her deepest places with powerful spurts. As soon as the first hot jet pulsed into her, Clarke was gone as well, throwing her head back with a wordless cry as her inner walls fluttered wildly around Lexa's throbbing shaft. Given how full she already was with her mate's cock and knot, it was difficult to imagine how she might take all of Lexa's release, but she couldn’t remember wanting anything more than to feel every drop inside of her, flooding her womb. 

She could have sobbed with desperation, but somehow Lexa seemed to know exactly what she needed. The alpha leaned forward and bit down hard on the soft skin of Clarke's neck, her teeth slotting perfectly into the grooves that they had left the first time they had done this, in the bunker during Clarke's heat. Clarke screamed, tears of relief spilling down her cheeks as she felt herself ripple even harder around her mate's spilling cock. The gesture was a perfect echo of that day, forcibly propelling her into a memory of just how much she’d needed to feel the Commander bite down, how much she’d needed to claim Lexa as her mate in return. But now—with everything they’d been through, everything they meant to each other, and what they still had to face—it somehow meant so much more.

Clarke couldn’t be certain whether Lexa's bite threw her into another orgasm, or simply extended her first. All she could focus on were the waves of bliss coursing through her body, much like the flood of come pulsing into her. They rocked together, bodies utterly entwined, as Clarke squeezed down around Lexa’s knot, coaxing out even more. The alpha's low groans were muffled by her grip on Clarke's neck, but Clarke's cries of ecstasy spiraled unimpeded to the roof of the tent.

Clarke could feel her belly swelling with the sheer amount of come Lexa was pumping into her, pressing against the alpha's hard stomach with every rock of Lexa's hips. She knew it was only temporary—when Lexa's knot shrank, it would all come flooding out of her—but she couldn’t help reveling in the sensation. She imagined what it would be like to know that the slight curve meant more than a night of lovemaking, that instead of fading it would only grow with Lexa's litter.

The thought made her shudder in her mate's arms, digging her nails into the flexing muscles of Lexa's back and clamping down a little tighter. Foregoing her hormone shots only meant that pregnancy was a possibility, not a certainty, but the idea of having a part of Lexa that would remain with her always brought her more peace than she could remember feeling since her journey to the ground.

It was a comforting thought that lingered with her as they drifted down from their high. Lexa released Clarke's throat, taking her lips instead, and they traded lazy kisses as the last ripples of their shared release passed between them. Clarke wound her arms tight around Lexa's torso, holding her as close as possible. It already felt like she and Lexa were sharing a skin, joined as they were, but some small, sad part of her knew the moment would eventually end—and she didn't want it to. She wanted Lexa to stay with her, on top of her, inside her forever.

"This feels right," Clarke murmured, her mouth skimming the smooth plane of Lexa's cheek. "Doesn't it?"

Lexa made a low moan of agreement. "I never thought I would...like this, again..." She gave Clarke a look of apology for her lack of eloquence, but Clarke brushed the tips of their noses together to show she understood. Their whirlwind relationship had taken her by surprise, but she knew Lexa had been expecting it even less. Her eyes flicked to the faded mark on Lexa's other shoulder, the one Costia had left. Whatever fears she held for tomorrow, Lexa was bearing them with an old wound besides.

"We're gonna come out of this together, okay?" she pledged, even though she had no business making such promises. It was what Lexa needed to hear, and so she would say it—she would  _ make _ it true. She took one of Lexa's warm hands in hers, resting it on the side of her belly. "I need you."

The gesture was meant to be comforting, but instead, Lexa responded by closing her eyes and drawing in a deep breath. "I would ask you not to come..." Clarke's good mood evaporated almost immediately. Her forehead furrowed, and she prepared to argue, growing angrier by the moment until Lexa opened her eyes again and continued. "But I know it would be selfish. Your people need you, and I know you wish to be with me. To protect me. I know I would feel the same, in your position."

Clarke relaxed again, offering Lexa a smile of pure love. Their bonding might have been hasty and unplanned, but she had chosen well. Lexa wanted to protect her, just like any alpha would, but beneath those instincts was a much deeper thread of respect and understanding. Lexa trusted her abilities. Lexa believed in her.

"I'm going to be okay," Clarke said, lacing their fingers together over her stomach. "We're both going to be okay."

_ "Sha," _ Lexa murmured, nuzzling back into her throat. "I believe it. For now."

"Then that's enough."

They remained entwined for a long time after, not speaking, but breathing as one. Exhaustion crept in, and though Clarke fought against it, wanting to treasure every peaceful moment with her mate that she could before the coming battle, she eventually had to surrender. The steady thump of Lexa’s heart lulled her into sleep, but just before she drifted off, she sealed her lips gently over the mark on her mate’s shoulder. It was hers—Lexa was hers—and though she wasn’t a trained warrior like the Grounders, she would do everything in her power to keep Lexa safe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigedasleng:
> 
> Trilipa: deer
> 
> Yu laik Heda: You are the Commander
> 
> Gostos, lid Klark kom Skaikru in: Gustus, bring in Clarke of the Sky People.
> 
> Gonakru: warriors
> 
> Em pleni, Leksa: Enough, Lexa
> 
> Jok, Klark: Fuck, Clarke
> 
> Ste hosh: Be quiet
> 
> Sha: Yes


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Almost there, kru! Now the REAL fun begins. As always, let us know what you think in the comments and on tumblr @n1ghtwr1ter and @raedmagdon. Also, look for an exciting announcement from us in the next couple of days! 
> 
>  [](http://s558.photobucket.com/user/calfaolan/media/green78%20-%20twon%20cover_zpskkb485uj.jpg.html)  
> 

Even though she knew it was unnecessary, Raven held her breath as she crept into the dimly-lit tank room. Her skin tingled, but only from nerves. Whichever type of acid these Mountain Men used to make their horrible fog was sure to be sealed up extra tight, with plenty of safety precautions in place. Still, the abandoned floor was eerie. A churning hum buzzed in her ears, and the fluorescent lights flickered as if the bulbs hadn't been changed in years. There was a thin coating of dust on everything except for a well-worn path beneath the large pipes, lined on either side by railings covered in chipped yellow paint.

_Guess that's not surprising. I doubt anyone comes here except the maintenance workers checking on the vats._

Raven crept cautiously along one wall, following the railings and scanning the ceiling for cameras as she went. There didn't appear to be many, and the one she caught a glimpse of was pointed straight at a large steel vat along one wall. Warning labels were plastered along one side, and several smaller pipes fed from the vat into the wall.

_Bingo._

A grin spread across Raven's face, and she crept closer, making sure to stay out of the camera's eye. She still didn't know what chemical she was working with, or how to disable the machine, but she knew more than she had before. _And I'd better figure the rest out fast. Anya's going to be creating her distraction any minute now..._ Instinctively, her hand reached down to the radio at her hip. It remained silent, but the connection was live. As soon as Anya let herself be seen, she was sure to attract everyone else's attention.

She unhooked the radio from her belt and lifted it cautiously to her mouth. _"Pakstoka?_ This is _Skaigona,_ in position. Over."

There was a pause, and then came a familiar voice that made Raven's heart spike with a mixture of joy and fear. "I still do not understand your attachment to these pointless code names, _Reivon._ This is serious. We should address each other by name."

Despite the tension, Raven couldn't help pouting a little. "Oh, come on! It's cool! You get to be a _wolf_. It's badass."

 _"Badas._ That is actually one of our words."

"Oh?" Even though Anya couldn't see, Raven arched her eyebrows. "What's it mean?"

Anya hesitated, and Raven could tell she didn't want to indulge in a trivial explanation during such a serious mission. But eventually, she answered. "It means wonderful."

"Okay then, I'm _badas,_ because I just found the vat of acid. Do your distraction, and I'll radio once I've shut off or destroyed the machine. Then we'll rendezvous with Clarke and Lexa and let them know the tunnels are clear."

"Shut off _or_ destroy?" Anya repeated, and even through the radio's static, Raven could hear the nervous skepticism in her voice. "You only mean shut off, correct?"

Raven fixed her eyes on the vat, clenching her jaw. Her damp fingers wound a little tighter around the radio, shaking slightly. "I mean I'm going to do whatever it takes to shut this thing down. If that means blowing up the whole vat and leaving a pool of acid to melt through the floor..." _And possibly me._ "Look, I'll be fine. Just get all of our people out of here, okay? Promise me."

There was a moment of hesitation, the radio only humming with static, and Raven tried to ignore just how hard her ears were straining for more. Finally, she heard Anya’s voice, exhaled on a staticky sigh. “I promise. But _Reivon…_ We _will_ meet again, do you understand me?” The alpha’s voice was hard and firm, and Raven couldn’t keep a little tremor from running through her. She nodded, determined.

“We will meet again.”

She clicked the radio off, sweating in the silence, as she waited for the alarms to begin blaring, telling her that Anya had created her distraction. Raven just hoped that the alpha would be able to create enough of a fuss that she would draw all of the guards away from this corridor—but not enough that she would be captured herself.

It seemed to take forever, but at last she heard the sirens begin to sound, their obnoxious bray pounding in her ears and generating an instant headache. But she forced herself to push through the pain. She had a job to do. And if she didn’t pull this off, there was no way any of them was leaving this mountain alive.

Pushing herself out of her hiding spot, she hurried to the closest tank, swinging the pack she'd lifted from the storage room, along with its contents, off her shoulder. Moving quickly yet carefully, she pulled a portable propane torch from the pack, the first of four to which she'd jury-rigged a crude but effective explosive, complete with remote detonator. _All you need is one good spark, and then it's bye-bye acid fog, hello Grounder army,_ she thought as she secured the torch to the pipes running from the mouth of the tank. She couldn’t help grinning as she surveyed her handiwork, despite the grimness of the situation. _Not bad for something you rigged out of spare parts and trash, Reyes. I think this might be your biggest boom yet._

She made it to two more tanks without incident, but as she rounded the corner of the fourth, she nearly ran smack into a guard. She staggered back and they both stared at each other for a moment, wide-eyed, and then the guard reached for his radio. “I’ve got an intruder in sector thirteen, the tank room!” he shouted, reaching for the baton at his belt. “I think it's one of the Ark kids!”

“We're a little busy right now with that Outsider on the loose,” the radio crackled back. “Think you can handle one kid on your own?”

 _Way to go Anya,_ Raven thought to herself, grinning fiercely, but the smirk dropped off her face as the guard snapped his baton open to its full length. She needed to figure out how to get her improvised bomb on that last tank now, or her new friend was going to get backup—and she was going to be toast.

“Emerson, you asshole,” the beta muttered to himself, advancing on her. Raven waited for him to swipe and then ducked under his arm. That put her closer to the tank, but now the guard was between her and the door. Her brain hummed with calculations, with ways to get out of this and still complete her mission, but she kept coming to one conclusion: she wasn’t going to be able to do both.

 _Well, I guess I always figured I’d go out with a bang,_ she thought, cracking a sickly grin. Then she faked to one side, making him flail in that direction, before darting the other way. Flattening herself against the wall, she was able to duck into a crawlspace behind the tank. She heard a low curse, and then the sounds of scuffling as he bent down and attempted to follow her. _Good luck with that, jerkoff,_ she thought. It was a tight space even for her, and he was much broader-shouldered, with the added bulk of his gear slowing him down even further.

Still, she couldn’t help upping her pace as she shuffled through the filthy space behind the tank. She could see light coming from a door just beyond it. If she could somehow get through the crawlspace, strap the torch to the tank, and then book it, she might make it out in time to not get caught in the blast. _Don't think about that, Reyes. You have a job to do._ But she couldn’t quite stop that desperate, terrible hope from blooming in her heart.

The crawlspace grew narrower as she went, so she dropped down onto her stomach. dragging herself full-length along the cement floor. Just a few more feet. Two... one... six inches... With fumbling, sweaty fingers, she strapped the last propane torch in place, slapping it against the cold, gritty underside of the tank as fast as she could. The sound of heavy breathing and muttered curses behind her spurred her onward, and she crawled as fast as she could, hissing in pain as the rivet of a smaller pipe scraped against her arm.

That small hesitation was enough. The guard reached out, grabbing for her ankle and trying to yank her back. She reacted on instinct, thrashing and kicking wildly behind her. If she was going to die, it wasn't going to be like this, behind a dirty tank of acid with some idiot guard pulling on her pants. But the guard's grip was firm, and she didn't have enough space to turn around and aim for his face.

She reached out blindly in the dark, feeling for the propane tank she had just strapped to the vat. Ignoring the explosives rigged to the side, she turned the wheel at the top, covering her mouth with her other arm as the foul hiss of gas escaped. It would take a while for the torch to melt through the huge steel side of the vat, if it was even capable, but maybe it would scare the guard into letting her go.

"Fuck!" The guard's panicked voice echoed in the small space, stabbing at Raven's ears, but thankfully, the grip on her ankle loosened. She scurried away as fast as she could, bursting out from the other side of the crawlspace and sprinting for the door.

_Come on, Reyes. Just a little further... you promised Anya your fight wouldn't end today. You've got unfinished business—_

"Stop, or I'll shoot!"

Raven stumbled to a halt, whirling around to face the voice. _Fuck. If he's not actually holding a gun, I'm going to hate myself._ Fortunately for her pride - if unfortunately for her life - the guard had indeed drawn a gun from his belt. He was aiming it at her with shaking hands, fearful streaks of sweat running down his face almost like tears. For a moment, Raven actually felt sorry for him. He couldn't have been much older than she was. He was practically a kid, swallowed up by his ill-fitting uniform.

"Fix whatever you just did with the gas," he said, still training the muzzle of the gun on her. When she didn't move, he brandished the gun at her, making the nose waver. "Do it! Do it, or we're both gonna die." It was more of a plea than an order, and his expression was tight with terror.

Raven took a deep breath. If he shot her—and judging by the wild whites of his eyes, he was going to in another few seconds—she would fail her mission. Instead, she reached for the detonator at her hip beside the radio. "Sorry, dude," she said, fitting her thumb over the button. "I'm dead either way. And I've gotta help my friends while I still can."

She pressed the button, and then threw herself in the direction of the door. There was a roar like a demon straight from hell, and then a wave of concussive force that threw her out into the hall. She hit the wall with a sickening crack and fell in a heap of debris, her left leg twisting beneath her, and suddenly her entire focus narrowed to the pain searing through her body. _Well, I guess that worked,_ she thought as her eyesight dimmed, a curtain of blissful unconsciousness being drawn over the world. _Clarke, Anya…make the most of it._

***

Anya had been leading her pursuers steadily deeper and deeper into the maze of the Mountain’s uninhabited areas when she heard the blast. The sound must have been at least three floors below her, but it still managed to be deafening, and she found herself hard-pressed to stay on her feet as the entire edifice shook around her. Reivon _did it,_ she exulted privately, but a moment later her glee was eclipsed by panic. Fumbling for the radio at her belt, Anya jammed the call button harshly with her thumb.

 _“Skaigona,_ are you all right? Come in, _Skaigona!”_

It took an extreme effort of will not to repeat her call immediately when Raven didn’t answer, her thumb hovering over the button, squeezing the radio in her fist so hard it creaked. She forced herself to listen to her pursuers' cries of confusion and dismay as they tried to determine the greater threat: should they continue to pursue the rogue “Outsider” roaming their halls, or should they divert their attention to whatever had caused the explosion? If the guards went down to the tank room and Raven was still there, Anya could imagine only too well the horrors that might await her. But if they continued to follow Anya, she wouldn't be able to check in on Raven until she'd managed to lose them, lest she lead them directly to the beta’s hiding spot. Either way, Anya needed to know whether or not Raven had gotten clear.

Using the cover provided by the continued confusion of the _Maunon,_ Anya zigzagged through several abandoned rooms which connected onto other hallways, only stopping once or twice to consult her map and make sure she was still heading in roughly the right direction. As soon as she was certain that no one was following her, she put her head down and took off at a dead sprint for the closest set of stairs. She was only a few floors up from where the explosion would have taken place, but she knew that Raven might only have seconds between survival and death.

The thirteenth floor was total chaos, a confusion of blaring klaxons and shouting and screams. Anya clapped her hand over her mouth to hold back the choking dust that hung in the air, and made her way as best she could over the rubble of the walls. It was slow going – too slow, she feared – but she knew she was getting closer as she saw shards of metal dripping with caustic liquid, and here and there a wrongly-hanging limb, a scrap of bloody fabric. Every time she caught sight of such a thing, her heart leapt into her throat – but the clothing was unfamiliar, the body strange. _It’s not_ Reivon, she kept repeating to her hammering heart. _It’s not her._

But then she caught sight of a familiar orange jacket, and she was crossing the wreckage in leaps and bounds, practically clawing her way forward to get to the beta. She had to bite her tongue to keep from calling out to Raven, desperate to hear the _Skayon’s_ voice. Finally, she skidded to a halt and wrenched a piece of sheet metal off the younger woman’s body – and sucked in a breath.

Raven’s eyes were closed, and from this angle Anya couldn’t tell whether her chest was moving or not, but that wasn’t what immediately drew her gaze. Raven’s left leg was bent at a horrible angle, and Anya could tell, even with her untrained eyes, that it had to be broken in at least three places. She gulped down a sudden rush of nausea and knelt to check the beta’s pulse, heaving a sigh of relief when she found it weak, but there. “You have done well, _Reivon kom Skaikru,”_ she muttered, slinging Raven’s arm over her own shoulders. “You have made it possible that we might escape this place. Now let me carry you to freedom.”

She made her way as carefully but quickly as possible back the way she’d come, knowing that at first glance, in the haze, she’d look like just another rescuer bringing a survivor of the blast out of the wreckage. As soon as she was clear of searching eyes, however, she pulled out her radio and clicked it over to the channel that would connect her with the Ark. “This is _Onya kom Trikru_ ,” she said, her voice low and fierce as she repeated the code phrase Raven had taught her. “The weather is clear.” She paused for a moment, but a quick glance at the unconscious beta at her side made her hasten to add, “Come as fast as you can, and show no mercy. I will be waiting for you with our people.”

The radio crackled with Lexa’s voice, the finality in her tone clear even through the static. _“Ai sen yu in, Fos,”_ her former _Seken_ said. _“Osir na komba raun. Ste yuj.”_

* * *

Lexa lowered the radio, twisting in her saddle to face her warriors. The urgency in Anya's voice had her heart pounding, but she kept a mask of calm over her face—the result of years of practice, years of being _Heda._ She had brought her very best warriors along for this mission, as well as plenty of _Skaikru_ volunteers, and above all else, they looked to her as an example. She couldn't afford to let them see her fear.

"The acid fog is gone," she told them, projecting her voice enough to be heard, but not quite shouting. Still, the treetops rustled as a few nervous birds took flight. Her warriors, however, remained silent, listening intently. Some were on horseback as she was, but some were on foot, blending into the forest. "We ride on the Mountain to free our people, and to defeat the _Maunon_ once and for all."

There were several murmurs and nods of approval. While they took the statement in, she snuck one more glance sideways, to where Clarke was seated on horseback beside her. It had taken some doing to get Clarke up on the giant beast, and she wasn't what Lexa would call an experienced rider, but while holding still, she did make a striking sight. Her blue sash flowed behind her like a waterfall, and with a mask of warpaint slashing across her face, black wings sweeping out from the corners of her eyes, she looked every inch a true warrior of _Trikru._

Despite the urgency of the situation, Lexa's heart swelled with pride. _This is my mate. Even in war, she is beautiful._ Something inside told her that Clarke would make a great warrior and leader in her own right—or, more accurately, she already was. The omega had taken command of _Skaikru,_ and judging from the determined look on her face and her comfort with the _fayogon_ at her hip, she didn't flinch at the thought of battle. _Teaching her to use a sword will be next. I'm sure she will excel at it._

Realizing she had been caught in self-indulgent thoughts for too long, Lexa addressed the warriors once more. "You know the law of our people: _jus drein, jus daun."_ The warriors stirred, preparing to pick up a chant, but she raised her hand for silence. "But there is room for mercy as well. Otherwise, we would be just like the _Maunon_ . Leave any children alive, if possible. We will show more honor than the _Maunon_ have shown us."

Lexa waited for objections, but none came. They accepted her judgment without question. "But do not forget the dangers that they pose. With their _tek_ , they can kill easily—and they will."

She saw approval on one face in particular: Bellamy, who was perched on his own borrowed steed a few yards behind them. She locked eyes with him, and then cast a subtle glance in Clarke's direction, hoping he would understand. _Keep her safe if I cannot._ To her relief, he dipped his head in acknowledgment. Lexa breathed a little more easily at the gesture. This was the first time she had gone into battle with her heart walking around outside her body, and it was more terrifying than anything she had faced—even her Conclave.

With the knowledge that Bellamy would do his best to defend Clarke if she could not, Lexa was able to let out a breath, throw her shoulders back, and return her gaze to the warriors in front of her. “We move quickly, we move quietly, and we do what we must in order to free our brothers and sisters, our _houmon_ and _yongon_ who are trapped inside the Mountain. We spare the innocent. But as for the guilty…” She paused, letting her eyes sweep over her warriors, all of whom were tensed and ready. At last, her gaze met Indra’s, and the alpha bared her teeth in a silent snarl.

_“Jus drein, jus daun.”_

The chant started low but swelled fast, echoing her words with many throats. It wasn’t long before all of the _Trikru gona_ were roaring it along with her, punctuated by snarls and the rattling of shaken blades, and Lexa felt pride swell within her chest she surveyed her war-band. But it was the sight of the _Skaikru_ fighters joining the chant, inspired by her mate, that made her feel about to burst with it. They started out tentatively at first, but soon they were shouting the words as though they’d been born knowing them, brought up under the laws of her people as she had been, the laws she was sworn to uphold. _See?_ she told herself, and the Spirit within her. _They are not so different from us that our two people cannot become one. This is the day that_ Skaikru _truly becomes the Thirteenth Clan._

The Spirit did not answer, yet she knew that it agreed.

It was only a quick march to the beginning of the hidden path; Lexa and those of her warriors on horseback dismounted and marched with the rest, following Lincoln. The alpha moved unsteadily through the trees, his eyes searching the brush for unseen landmarks. His mate Octavia stayed by his side, ready to offer a steadying hand when Lincoln faltered. Lexa regretted the necessity of Lincoln’s presence, as the warrior was clearly still recovering from the ordeal that the Mountain’s Red Water had put him through, but she knew that there was no way any of them would be able to find the entrance to the Reaper tunnels on their own.

After a few minutes of walking in tense silence, Lincoln stopped. Lexa blinked—surely they hadn’t reached the entrance so quickly?—but a moment later, she realized why. The regular sounds of birds and small animals moving through the forest had fallen away, leaving them wrapped in an eerie cocoon of soundlessness. Lexa felt the hairs rise on the back of her neck. They had reached the acid fog line, the place where the thick yellow smoke would automatically begin to filter through the trees if any of her people approached too close. They were truly in the shadow of the Mountain now.

Lincoln raised his head, sniffing and glancing around for something. Lexa waited, jaw clenched and fist clamped around the hilt of her sword so tightly that she could feel the grip digging into her palm. Every instinct screamed at her to grab Clarke and run, to drag her away from this place as fast as they could and not stop until they reached the safety of _Trikru_ lands—but then she felt a warm hand rest gently atop her whitened knuckles. The touch and the scent that followed it relaxed her instantly, enough to turn to Clarke and offer her a small smile of reassurance. That wasn’t enough for her mate, of course. The omega frowned, opening her mouth to ask what was wrong, but then she heard Lincoln say quietly, _“Oso ste hir, Heda.”_

Practically shaking with the effort of fighting her instincts, Lexa stalked forward on stiff legs until she stood at the warrior’s side. “You’ve done well, _gona,”_ she told him, resting a hand on his shoulder. Turning to Octavia, she ordered, “Make sure he gets back to camp and receives the best of care.”

But to her surprise, the omega held her ground, jaw tight. “I’m going with you.”

Lexa’s eyebrows rose. “You will not stay with your mate?”

Octavia shook her head. “Lincoln taught me some of how to fight before…and Indra picked up where he left off. I wanna make those bastards pay for what they did to him.”

The Commander turned her gaze to meet Lincoln’s, and he gave her a slight nod. Knowing that he would never send his mate into danger for which she was unprepared, and trusting his judgment, Lexa turned her attention back to Octavia. “Then fight well, _gona.”_

She could see Octavia struggling not to grin at the tacit praise before she leaned up to press a kiss to Lincoln’s lips. They grasped each other’s arms in _Trikru_ fashion and murmured, “May we meet again.” Then Lincoln was gone, making his way slowly but steadily back through the forest to where the Ark and its care waited, and Octavia took her place among the ranks of warriors at Indra’s side.

Lexa took a deep breath. Everything was still and silent, as if the entire forest was waiting on her command. She turned once more to Clarke, to her mate, who looked every inch the leader and warrior she was, and tried to let go of the last of her fear. _This time will be different. I won't let her suffer the same fate as Costia. She won't die for me, and she will return to her people—_ our _people—a hero. I will make sure of it._

On Clarke's nod, Lexa raised her arm. Then she brought it down, motioning all of their warriors forward.

* * *

_This place is fucking creepy._

Clarke knew that it shouldn't have surprised her. Lincoln had warned them that this was the tunnel through which outside prisoners were brought, as well as the passageways Reapers used to come in and out of the Mountain. But still, the reality was worse than what she had imagined. The tunnels stank of death and damp and mold. There was little light, aside from the torches Lexa's warriors had brought and the flashlights from the Ark. She had one herself, clipped to the top of her pistol, shining it into shadowy corners, but there was no sign of life. Not even bats or bugs or something.

_Maybe the chemicals scared them away, too? Or maybe they're smarter than we are._

The deeper they traveled, the more uneasy she felt. The ground beneath their feet sloped down, down, steadily down. On one of her steps, Lexa held out an arm, preventing her from moving forward. Clarke began to ask what was wrong, but Lexa shook her head in the dark, indicating silence. When Clarke looked down, she saw twin rusted metal tracks running side by side. _Rails? For carts or something?_ It made sense, with the dusty wooden beams that held up some of the ceiling. This cave wasn't entirely natural. In fact, it looked more like an abandoned mine.

_Better not think about what the carts are used to haul now..._

They continued onward, with her watching her feet this time. The only sound were shuffling footsteps, as well as heavy breathing beside her. When she dared to glance over, she saw Bellamy flanking her. He stank of alpha pheromones, but for once, she didn't find them off-putting. She hadn't missed the understanding glance he had shared with Lexa earlier, and while it would have annoyed her under normal circumstances, she was strangely touched. _We all have to watch each other's backs if we're gonna get out of this alive._

The sound of footsteps coming from further ahead startled Clarke from her thoughts. She raised her gun, letting the beam of her flashlight shine ahead, but Lexa motioned for her to lower it. "Not yet," she whispered, reaching for the twin swords strapped to her back. "Prepare to blind whoever is coming around the corner."

Somehow, the message was passed back. Torches were shielded and flashlights were switched off, until there was near total blackness. Clarke held her breath as she waited, listening to the unnaturally loud sound of her heartbeat. She wanted to reach out and grab for Lexa, but she settled for stepping closer instead, hoping the alpha could feel her presence in the dark. It would have to be enough.

A few seconds later, a horrible, unearthly sound shattered the silence. It was an inhuman shriek that bounced from the cave rock and shuddered in her very bones, one that Clarke knew called for blood. _Shit. Reapers?_ It had to be. She switched her flashlight back on, aiming it around the next curve and paralyzing one of them in its beam. It was a hulking thing, dressed in rags and painted in horrible red colors, probably dirt and blood. It held no weapon, but the savagery in its blazing eyes was as terrifying as any blade. And it wasn't alone. Suddenly, more Reapers came pouring through the tunnel, howling and charging straight for them.

“Aim to wound, not to kill!” Lexa shouted, holding her swords in guard. “If _Skaikru_ can fix one of them—” But the rest of her words were lost as the wave of snarling Reapers crashed down on them, and suddenly Clarke was in the fight of her life.

She tried to aim for kneecaps where she could, and center mass where she couldn't, but it was so dark and chaotic in the tunnel that she couldn't be sure of what, if anything, she managed to hit. The air was thick with the harsh war cries of the _Trikru,_ the shouts of her own people, and the inhuman clamor of the Reapers. Her nose burned with the stench of unwashed alpha, but there was something else beneath it, a sickening bitterness that her brain registered as _wrong_ on some primal level.

She was quickly overwhelmed by it and might have been sick if not for Lexa’s presence beside her. The Commander’s blades were everywhere at once, flashing in the dizzying gleam of flashlights and torches as she parried and struck. Clarke knew that her mate must be doing the work of two warriors, fending off both Clarke’s attackers and her own. More than once, she saw Lexa taking blows that were surely meant for Clarke with no more than a grimace and a grunt. The omega’s heart ached to reach out to her mate and make certain that she was all right, but she had enough to do with defending herself and trying to make a dent in the Reapers’ onslaught.

And then Lexa took a hit from a particularly hefty specimen that drove her to one knee. Within moments, the Commander had disappeared under a pile of Reapers, all of them snarling and clawing at each other to get to Lexa and rip out her throat. Clarke cried out in fear, reaching for her mate, but she knew that she wouldn't be able to get through the growling mass in time to save Lexa. She tried to steady her shaking pistol enough to aim, but she couldn't find a shot—there was too much danger that she might hit Lexa as well.

Then she was shouldered aside by a dark mass that smelled strongly of alpha, but without the underlying bitterness—Bellamy. Mouth set in a grim line, he dealt heavy blows to the backs of heads and necks, and one by one Reapers howled and rolled away or went limp. Soon, enough of them were down that Clarke was able to begin pulling bodies off the pile, and Bellamy slung his gun over his shoulder to help, their breaths rasping harshly together in the sudden stillness. Clarke blinked, abruptly realizing that the cacophony of the battle had receded, but she refused to look up and see who'd won until she'd laid eyes on her mate.

After what seemed like a century, she grasped the familiar warmth of a rough, calloused hand, and was able to heave Lexa out of the scrum of Reapers. The Commander wobbled on her feet, looking dazed from a blow to her forehead, from which black blood ran— _Wait a second. Black blood?_

“Lexa,” Clarke whispered, reaching out to probe at the wound. The alpha caught her hand before it could touch her skin, softening the rejection with a crooked smile.

“It's all right, Clarke,” she said. “It is merely a scratch.”

“Yes, but Lexa, your blood is—”

 _“Shadjus,”_ Lexa said, as though that explained anything. “Those of us with the potential to become Commander bleed black, not red. I will explain more later, but for now, we must go on. It is no cause for concern.”

Clarke had half a million questions, and another half million reasons why _black blood_ was actually very likely to be a cause for concern, but she caught the urgency in her mate’s scent and forced herself to nod. Much as she wanted to grill Lexa for everything she knew about this _shadjus_ thing, now was not the time. They still had a mountain to conquer.

“Okay,” she said, although she still fixed Lexa with a worried gaze. They would definitely be having words about this later, assuming there was a later.

 _"Mafta ai op,"_ Lexa barked, and the remaining warriors fell into formation behind her. Thankfully, it appeared that few had been injured. Most of their party was still intact, but there were several bodies on the ground. Clarke caught a glimpse of Octavia and Indra standing a few yards away and breathed a sigh of relief.

 _If something happened to Octavia, Lincoln and Bellamy would both be devastated..._ She glanced over at Lexa, wincing as the edge of her flashlight caught more of the black blood smeared across the side of her mate's face. _No. Don't think about that. Focus so you can protect her next time._

They continued on into the cave, but instead of getting darker, the tunnels grew faintly brighter. Thin fluorescent lights flickered to life above them, illuminating more of their surroundings. The deeper they went, the more well-maintained the passageway became. The beams were metal instead of wood, and there appeared to be some gratework as well.

"We must be getting close," she whispered to Lexa. "How far do you think it is to the door?"

Lexa turned toward her, but instead of answering, she held up a hand for silence. Instantly, the tunnels became eerily quiet. Clarke listened, but the only thing she heard was a low, distant groan. _Not Reapers. A door opening? Is it ahead, or somewhere..._ It came again, louder this time, and she jerked her head up, staring at the ceiling. "It's coming from above us!"

Clarke aimed her flashlight above her head, casting a beam of light up at the ceiling. But there was no ceiling—only a dark passageway that seemed to extend far, far up. There didn't appear to be any light coming from it, although Clarke thought she saw a glint of metal.

"An air shaft?" Lexa murmured.

"Looks like a door," Bellamy said, coming to stand beside them. "Maybe a hatch or something."

Clarke nodded in agreement. "Think it's a way in?"

"Too far up," Lexa said with a shake of her head. "We would need to secure a rope and climb up one at a time. That would leave us vulnerable—"

_"Heda!"_

Clarke looked around in surprise. The voice didn't appear to have come from anyone standing next to them. The groaning noise grew louder, and then a shaft of faint light poured down from above as the hatch opened.

Bellamy reached for his gun, but Lexa pushed his hand down, grinning broadly. _“Onya!_ Are you up there?"

 _"Sha, Heda."_ A pale face with long, curly brown hair peered down at them, and a huge smile broke across Lexa's face. "You didn't think my fight would end today, did you?"

"Of course not, _Fos,"_ Lexa said, with clear affection. "Where does this shaft lead?"

"Up to a large room with cages. I didn't know it led down to the tunnels until I heard your voices. I'm here with _Reivon_ and most of our warriors. We have blocked the doors, but the _Maunon_ are trying to get in." She paused, then spoke with urgency. _"Reivon_ was badly injured shutting down the acid fog, but it is gone, as we promised. You should be safe to go on."

"Go on?" Clarke shook her head in protest. "No way. If Raven's hurt, I'm coming up there. Think you can toss us down a rope or something?"

"I told you, we cannot climb up one by one," Lexa said. "It would take too long—"

"Then Bellamy, Finn, and I will go up alone," Clarke said. She didn't give Lexa a chance to protest, calling up to Anya instead. "Are the rest of my people there with you?"

"No, _Klark._ Only _Trikru_ and _Reivon._ Your people are in a medical ward on an upper floor. They are being taken for experiments—"

"Then I have to find them. Get me up there."

 _“Klark…”_ Clarke felt warm pressure wrap around her hand, and looked down to see Lexa grasping it with the force of desperation. Her fingers were shaking, but she held on fiercely. “If you go up there, I cannot protect you.”

Clarke’s eyes flicked to the marks on Lexa’s throat, her fresh one and Costia’s old one. She knew exactly what Lexa was thinking about without being told. “I have to save my people, Lexa. You’d do the same.”

Lexa closed her eyes, drawing in a deep breath, but after a painful eternity, she nodded. “I would. But after today, our people will become one. That way…”

Clarke nodded in understanding. “That way, we won’t have to make this choice again...”

She barely finished the sentence before Lexa grabbed the back of her neck, dragging her forward for a short but scorching kiss. It tasted of love and terror, and Clarke felt her eyes sting with the start of tears. Lexa’s scent swelled around her, seeping into her, an attempt at marking her for protection. But all too soon, it was over. They parted, and Clarke saw Lexa’s jaw tense as she steeled herself.

 _“Onya,”_ Lexa called up the shaft, “get everyone away from the hatch. One of our archers will send a rope up. _Klark_ will try to give _Reivon_ medical attention, and you will give her directions to her people.”

Meanwhile, Clarke shared a glance with Bellamy. The two of them nodded to each other, coming to stand closer together. They didn’t speak, but they shared the same thoughts: one way or another, they were going to get their people back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigedasleng:
> 
> Skaigona: Bird of prey  
> Pakstoka: wolf  
> Ai sen yu in, Fos: I hear you, First  
> Osir na komba raun. Ste yuj: We are coming. Be strong.  
> Fayogon: Gun  
> Tek: technology  
> Houmon: spouses  
> Yongon: children  
> Oso ste hir, Heda: We are here, Commander  
> Shadjus: Nightblood  
> Mafta ai op: Follow me


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We hope you enjoy this (late but long) penultimate chapter of TWON. It's been wild.
> 
> There is a trigger warning for Lexa getting held at gunpoint (for those of you still haunted by 3x07) but I promise she makes it out just fine. We wouldn't do that to y'all. We guarantee happy endings.
> 
> Follow us @raedmagdon and @n1ghtwr1ter on tumblr.
> 
> [](http://s558.photobucket.com/user/calfaolan/media/green78%20-%20twon%20cover_zpskkb485uj.jpg.html)  
> 

Lexa felt as though her heart was walking out of her chest and out of her protection as she watched Clarke, Bellamy, and Finn climb up the rope that a _Trikru_ archer had shot through the hatch. _Bellamy will be looking out for her, and Anya knows what she means to me,_ she tried to tell herself. _They will not let any harm come to_ Klark. But that felt like scant comfort. How could she know that Clarke would be safe if she was not there to protect her mate herself? What if Clarke were to die under the Mountain somewhere, alone, never to see Lexa one final time…

_Like Kostia._

The thought came to her unbidden, like a recurring nightmare. She squeezed her eyes shut, fighting off the memory of Costia’s mutilated head, but she was unsuccessful—only it wasn't Costia’s head she saw this time, but Clarke’s, golden curls matted with blood.

Lexa whirled to glare at the leader of the _Skaikru_ guards that had come with them—Sergeant Miller, she thought Clarke had called him. “What is the delay?” she snapped at the man, who wilted under her steely gaze. “Can you get this door open or not?” The beta flinched away from her harsh tone, nodding vigorously, and she felt somewhat bad about it, but she could not bring herself to care too much when her mate was in there, beyond her protection.

From a duffel bag slung over his shoulder, Miller withdrew an odd device, a collection of small black packages wrapped in colored wires and capped by a panel clustered with blinking lights. Although the device was relatively small, he carried it carefully, as though it was heavy—and after a moment, Lexa understood. This must be the _Skaikru_ explosive that Clarke’s mother had promised. Instinctively, she took a step back.

One of the other _Skaikru_ guards attached pieces of some sort of adhesive to the door, near where its handle might have been if it had had one, and Miller secured it very slowly and cautiously to the frame. He then peered at the panel, squinting to make it out in the dimness, before punching a combination into the device’s buttons. Brightly-colored numbers sprang to life on the tiny screen, and Lexa recognized them as a countdown. Her eyes widened. “We should stand clear,” Miller said dryly, turning back to look at her. She nodded, and waved her _gona_ back down the tunnel.

They waited in tense silence for several minutes. Although the cave was damp and chilly, Lexa could feel a combination of sweat and blood trickling down the side of her cheek, and swiped it away impatiently with her sleeve. Miller checked his watch, its face blindingly bright in the darkness of the cave. After what seemed like forever, he held up his hand, signaling, presumably, that the explosion was close. _“Be ready,”_ Lexa hissed to her warriors in Trigedasleng. _“When that door opens, expect resistance. Take cover for their first volley, and then close with them as quickly as possible. If we can get near enough, they will not be able to use their_ fayogon _without fear of hitting each other._ Nami?”

There were murmurs of _“Sha, Heda,”_ and Lexa turned back to face the door, satisfied. She knew her warriors were well-versed in fighting the _Maunon,_ and did not need her guidance, but the stakes were much higher than ever before. She would take no chances. Sergeant Miller held up his hand again, ticking down a five-count with his fingers. Lexa braced herself and pressed her hands over her ears.

_BOOM!_

Even muffled by the rock of the cavern, the noise was deafening. Lexa gritted her teeth against the ringing in her ears, trying to push past it to hear what was going on beyond the tunnel’s curve. As her hearing returned, she made out shouts and cries of pain—but they were weak, and few in number. It looked like they had taken the _Maunon_ by surprise—likely they were still busy dealing with whatever havoc Anya and Raven had wreaked to disable the acid fog. “Forward,” Lexa roared, pointing her sword straight ahead, “and show no mercy! _Jus drein, jus daun!”_ Her warriors answered her call in thunderous voices, and followed her as she charged. The Mountain was breached at last.

* * *

"Good news is, she looks pretty stable," Clarke said as she examined Raven's still form. She kept drifting in and out of consciousness, which was a good sign, lashes fluttering and hazy eyes opening from time to time. Her breathing wasn't labored, and her heart was pounding steadily when Clarke had checked her pulse. "Bad news is, that right leg doesn't look too good. It's still got some shrapnel in it. She's going to need medical attention."

"Clarke," Anya said, shaking her head and chuckling almost fearfully. Her hair was wild, her cheeks was streaked with soot instead of warpaint, and lines of exhaustion marred her face, but somehow, it only made her look more like a terrifying warrior. Only her worried eyes gave her away. "You _are_ the medical attention. You are the only healer she may have access to for some time..."

"But there isn't time," Clarke insisted, biting back anger. Underneath it was fear, slippery twisting coils that curled around her stomach and squeezed. "I have to go find out where the rest of my people are—"

"I have blueprints," Anya said. "I'll give them to you, but only after you help _Reivon."_

Clarke's eyes narrowed in anger. "What? You can't blackmail me like that!"

"I am not blackmailing you. I am asking you to heal one of your best friends, who is also one of your people."

Immediately, Clarke felt a stab of guilt. Anya was right. She wouldn't be able to live with herself if she rushed off without helping an injured friend. "It's going to be okay, Raven," she said in a softer voice, brushing back Raven's slick hair. Her face was covered in sweat, and occasionally twitched and grimaced with pain, but she managed to lock eyes with Clarke and twist her lips into something almost like a smile.

"You're... gonna... give me shit for this... aren't you, Griff?" she rasped, her words coming slowly and effortfully.

Clarke thought about telling her not to say anything else, but decided against it. _Any distraction I can give her from the pain is a good thing._ "For the fact that your girlfriend blackmailed me into patching you up? Hell yes I am. Welcome to Team Grounder Pounder.”

Raven tried to laugh, but the sound turned into a hoarse cry of pain. "I'm gonna look at your leg, okay, Raven? Anya, I need something. Forceps, tweezers..."

Anya's brow furrowed in confusion until Clarke demonstrated the shape with her hands. She stood up to look without a word, moving like a woman on a mission. While she was gone, Clarke took the opportunity to examine her surroundings more closely. She was in a strange room, a mix between sterile lab equipment and squalor. The smell of sweat and piss and despair was overpowering, but it only came from one direction: the line of cages near the wall. The rest of the room was chrome, shiny under the eerie fluorescent lights.

It was only then that she realized she had been left alone with Anya's band of warriors. They were standing a fair distance away, eyeing her with a mixture of suspicion and hope. Some of them had armed themselves with whatever they could find: table legs repurposed as clubs, and what looked like scalpels from some kind of medical kit. None of them spoke, but the weight of their eyes made her squirm. Nevertheless, she straightened her shoulders and addressed them. _No use pretending they aren't even there._

"Your Commander is coming," she told them. "Lexa has been working to rescue you ever since the _Maunon_ attacked."

Their demeanor shifted immediately. There were smiles, and also a few relieved sighs. It was clear that they were fiercely loyal to Lexa, and hearing that she was coming for them was an immense reassurance. But the moment of peace didn’t last long. A loud bang came from near the door, and the band of warriors turned.

Clarke’s eyes darted around the room, taking in the situation: Raven, still drifting in and out of consciousness on the floor; the small band of warriors gripping makeshift weapons tightly in shaking hands; the rows of cages ringing the vast room, all of them containing Grounders who were rattling the bars and begging to be freed; the small cluster of Grounders who had already been freed huddled on the floor in the corner, looking pale and weak and desperate. _Hardly an army,_ Clarke thought, gritting her teeth. _Maybe if all of them were free, they could overwhelm the Mountain Men with numbers…but the majority look too weak to even defend themselves._

The pounding grew louder, accompanied by angry shouts and yells. Clarke knew that the barricade the warriors had hastily constructed would not hold for much longer—the _Maunon_ would get in, and they’d have a fight on their hands. “Do you think you can hold until Lexa gets here?” she asked the group, but they all looked back at her with identical deer-in-the-floodlights expressions. She was about to repeat the question again when a strong, harsh voice came ringing out from behind her.

“We will, because we have to,” Anya said, dropping into a crouch and handing her a small treasure trove of medical tools and supplies: bandages, gauze, a scalpel, scissors, and a bottle of disinfectant.

Clarke nodded. “Thank you. This should work for now. I’m gonna need someone to hold her down. This is gonna hurt, and I can’t have her thrashing.”

Anya reached out to take hold of Raven’s shoulders, but then another loud bang came from the direction of the door, and she rose swiftly to her feet. “You,” she said, pointing at Bellamy, who looked somewhat startled. “Hold her down. I am going to lead my warriors. If anything happens to her, I will come for you, in this life or the next.” Seeing the burning determination in Anya’s eyes and hearing the certainty ringing in her voice made Clarke shiver a little.

 _I really think she would. Jesus, when did they have time to get this close?_ But she had no grounds to poke fun at Raven and Anya’s relationship, considering how quickly her own had blossomed, and she had no time. Bellamy was maneuvering himself into position, holding Raven’s shoulders against the floor, and Finn had moved to kneel over her legs, his hands on her knees. Clarke swallowed hard. _Okay, Griffin. Steady hands, keen eyes, clear mind. Just like Mom taught you._

She used the scissors to cut away the bottom half of Raven’s pants leg, giving her more room to work with the leg. It was mangled—there were dozens of cuts, many of them tiny but some of them deep, especially around her knee. Clarke tightened her jaw. “Okay, Raven, if you can hear me…this is gonna sting.”

Clarke poured the disinfectant over the wound, making it hiss and bubble. Raven screamed harshly, her body arching, but Bellamy and Finn held her firm, though their faces were tight and drawn with pain at having to watch this happen to their friend. As quickly and carefully as she could, Clarke used some of the gauze to wipe away the blood pooling around the largest of the cuts, to see what she was working with.

The picture wasn't pretty. Several large pieces of shrapnel were embedded in Raven's leg, and as Clarke removed the largest, blood began to flow freely. _Not too much - good._ She worked as fast as she could, ignoring the ominous banging behind her and praying Raven hadn't sliced anything important. She didn't have anything close to the tools she'd need to fix a severed artery. Thankfully, it didn’t take long to determine that her friend wouldn't bleed out.

"I think she's out of it, Clarke," Finn said, brushing back Raven's hair. "Her eyes are closed." His face was a picture of genuine worry, and for a moment, Clarke felt sorry for him. Despite the messy end of their relationship, she knew he still cared for Raven deeply.

"That might be a good thing," Bellamy said. "Better she isn't awake for this."

Clarke disagreed. Unconsciousness was never a good thing, but Bellamy and Finn didn't need to hear that. She finished the job in silence, pleased to see that the bandages didn't bleed through once she'd wrapped them. "Okay," she breathed, wiping her hands on her pants. Blood stained the edges of her nails, but there was no time to care. "This is the best I can do for her. Let's get out of here."

"How?" Finn glanced darkly toward the door, where Anya and the other warriors were waiting. "They're trying to break down the door."

"So let them," Bellamy said. "We have to get out and find our people. That's the only door."

"But what about Raven?" Finn protested.

"Put her in there and close the door." Clarke looked up to see Anya hovering over them, listening to their conversation. She had claimed one of the broken table legs, and was pointing its splintered end toward a nearby supply closet. "My people and I will hold off the _Maunon_ until Lexa arrives. That should give you a chance to slip past with these." With her other hand, she reached into her shirt and pulled out the blueprints. "Your people are in the medical ward, three floors up. Good luck."

Clarke rose to her feet, clasping Anya's forearm and squeezing firmly. "Keep her safe. I know you will."

"But—" Finn began to object, but the sound of more muffled booming from outside the door cut him off. Anya looked at him, and to Clarke's surprise, she offered him her hand as well. "You were to be _Revion's_ mate before the two of you parted, yes? Do you wish to defend her, even though she has chosen to leave you? Without the expectation of her love, or even her gratitude?"

A look of grief passed across Finn's face, but then it hardened into a look Clarke recognized as determination. "Yes. No matter what, Raven's my friend. I can't leave her here."

"Then we will guard her together, _Skayon._ Fight to keep her safe, and fight to give _Klark_ and _Belomi_ a chance to find your people."

The four of them shared one last look of acknowledgment. Then, without speaking or exchanging goodbyes, they started preparing. Finn took Raven back toward the supply closet, cradling her as gently as possible, while Anya, Bellamy, and Clarke turned toward the door. "You will have to be fast," Anya warned them. "My warriors will clear a path, but there will be little time. The _Maunon_ have _fayogon_ and explosives and other _tek."_

"So do we," Clarke said. She tucked the blueprints into her own shirt and raised the muzzle of her own gun, aiming it at the door. "Open 'em up, Anya. We're ready."

"Open the doors," Anya barked to her warriors. _"Jus drein, jus daun!"_ The cry echoed through the band of warriors as they tore apart the barricade, and pride swelled in Clarke's chest. She felt almost like one of them now, and she would fight just as hard as any of them.

All at once, the barricade came down. The doors burst open, but instead of men in armor, she saw several round metal spheres fly through the opening and scatter across the ground. Her eyes widened in fear, and she shouted. "Forward! Everybody forward!"

She was too startled and afraid to be surprised when the grounders obeyed. They charged forward as a group, flooding out into the hall—and just in time. A few moments later, the same sickening red gas that had rained down upon the dropship burst from the spheres, filling the room. _Knockout gas,_ Clarke thought, covering her mouth with her sleeve. _Don't breathe..._

She followed the tide of bodies until the air was clearer, trying to make sense of the chaos. Anya and her warriors were attacking ten suited _Maunon_ with everything they had, stabbing them with makeshift knives, beating them, even using their bare hands. Guns fired, and Clarke froze as one of the warriors beside her fell to the ground.

"Come on," Bellamy's voice rasped beside her, snapping her out of her stupor. "They're giving us a chance. We have to move!"

There wasn't time to argue. Clarke ran with everything she had, dodging Grounders and _Maunon_ alike, trying to get clear. _Lexa. Lexa will be here soon. She'll save them. She has to._ She clung to that hope as she and Bellamy skidded around the corner, leaving the sounds of battle behind.

* * *

Lexa whirled, arm already raised to block a blow and the tip of her blade searching for her next opponent. But to her surprise, she found none. The echoing room in which the skirmish had taken place still reverberated with the sounds of the battle, and gunsmoke hung in the air, but the only Mountain Men left in the hall lay still. Instead of being heartened by the lack of resistance, Lexa frowned. _This cannot be all of them. They must have been drawn elsewhere._

A moment later, her heart sank. She didn’t want to believe it, didn’t want to even think it, but she knew that the reason why their intrusion hadn’t been met with more force was because the Mountain’s attention had been diverted. _“Mafta ai op!”_ she shouted again, heading for the door she could see through the chamber’s haze. “We need to find our people!” _We need to find Clarke._

After making certain that the few warriors who were wounded had been cared for, and sending them back down the tunnel with a couple of others to keep them safe, they prepared to assault the inner door of the chamber. A cursory examination showed that it was not nearly as securely locked as its predecessor—clearly the _Maunon_ had not expected anyone to find this entrance, let alone make it through the first door. A well-timed kick from two of the largest warriors in her band sent it crashing open.

They emerged into a well-lit hall, the lights blazing at her from overhead and making her vision blur after the dimness of the previous area. Lexa hunched over, blinking furiously, simultaneously trying to clear the glare from her eyes and scan the hall for any threats. There were none, but she could also hear the sounds of shouting and heavy pounding, like a group of people trying to break down a door. Her eyes narrowed. That must be where the _Maunon’s_ forces were concentrated—and where Anya and her warriors would be.

“This way!” she shouted, knuckling the last of the blurriness from her vision and sprinting down the hall toward the source of the noise. As they got closer, it became clear that the sound was coming from above them, and Lexa could have snarled in frustration, but she caught sight of a set of stairs at the end of the passage. Putting her head down, she pelted for them at full speed, fear and fury pounding in her head and her heart. Every step brought her closer to her people, closer to Clarke—but never close enough, never soon enough.

_I can’t lose her. Not again…_

As soon as she’d crested the final stairwell, she heard another crash, and her heart nearly stopped. _They’ve broken in._ Her panic, her desperation to get to Clarke nearly made her miss the hiss of escaping gas, but she brought herself up short just in time to avoid a faceful of the knockout gas that the _Maunon_ used to incapacitate their enemies. Through the haze, she made out the bulky shapes of the Mountain Men in their rubber suits, raising rifles and pointing them through the now-open door.

With a feral roar, the Commander launched herself at the nearest _Maunon_ soldier, sword slicing through the air to lodge itself in his neck. He howled, falling to his knees and scrabbling at his mask. Lexa yanked her blade free, sending blood spurting from the wound, but she would not be stopped. Planting a boot firmly in his chest, she kicked him aside and turned, swords already questing through the air for their next target.

It was a mistake. The gas was creeping all around, threatening to swallow her, and she sucked in a lungful before she could shut off the reflex. It ate at her lungs until they screamed, and her head began to throb with a stabbing ache that bled out through her eyes. Then, just past the blackness closing in around her vision, Lexa saw something that stopped her short: a hunched figure scurrying away from the fray, dirt-streaked blonde hair trailing behind like a bright banner amidst the dark smoke.

 _Klark._ Lexa knew in an instant. She pushed past her exhaustion, past her pain, past the creeping burn of the gas and the swimming shadows, heading for the halo of gold. _I have to reach her...have to..._

_"Seken!"_

Suddenly, Lexa found herself being dragged in the opposite direction by a pair of strong arms. She stumbled back, swaying on her feet, and collapsed backwards against a strong chest. Hard breaths panted near her ear, and she looked up to see a very welcome figure holding her. _"Mochof, Fos..."_ No matter how fierce the battle, Anya always seemed to find her and steady her before she could fall.

For a split second, Anya smiled. Then she yanked one of Lexa's swords from her hand, thrusting it forward just in time to skewer another _Maunon_ who dared to come too close. She withdrew it from between the joints in his armor with a sickening lurch, but only after he slumped to the ground and blood began blossoming across the floor.

Lexa tightened her grip on the other sword and straightened, stepping away from the smoke and gasping for fresh air. "Where is she?"

 _"Klark_ has gone for her people, _Heda,"_ Anya told her. "I showed her the way. Now, you must lead yours." She gestured at the ragged band of warriors they had come upon, and with utter joy, Lexa recognized that they were not just the army she had led into the Mountain herself. They were her missing warriors, even more than she had expected to find, half-naked and carrying broken furniture for weapons, but _alive._ Most of the _Maunon_ around the door were dead or wounded, and while her army had suffered a few casualties, it still seemed to be standing.

 _"Gona,"_ she shouted, speaking past the pain in her throat the gas had left. _"Sen ai in!_ Are you ready to conquer this Mountain at last? Are you ready to take back the blood that has been stolen from us?"

There was a roar of approval. The warriors shook their weapons, raising fists to the roof. "Then go! Rescue our allies, and kill all the _Maunon_ you can find."

Lexa searched through the fading remnants of smoke until she found Indra. Her trusted general stood at attention, Octavia at her side, awaiting instructions. The omega looked every inch a member of Trikru, painted face and all, and Lexa noticed that her borrowed blade held blood on its edge. "You and your new _Seken_ will take the rear," she told Indra. "I will lead."

Indra adopted the closest thing to a challenging look that anyone could give Heda. _"Heda,_ I would not question you, but it would be my honor to take the front. You are still unsteady on your feet."

 _"Koken,"_ Lexa muttered, shaking her head and smiling. "Are you sure _Linkon_ didn't injure your head back in the forest instead of your ribs?"

"She's right, _Heda,"_ Anya said. "You were the first to reach us. You breathed in the red fog. Your hands are shaking."

Lexa looked down, scowling when she saw that it was true. Her grip on her sword was indeed weaker than it should have been. Meanwhile, Anya gestured to some of the former captives, many of whom were bleeding and limping. "Besides, these are the people you came to save. They need the hope of seeing your face more than the healthy warriors at the front."

She clenched her teeth, torn. It was true that a good leader would not abandon the slowest of the pack, but the longer she delayed, the longer it would take her to find Clarke. _The longer I argue with my general, the longer it takes me to find her anyway._ "Go, Indra," she barked, loud enough for everyone to hear. _"Okteivia?"_

Octavia already seemed to know what she was going to ask. "I'll find Clarke," she said, eyes blazing with determination. "My other people are still in there, including Bellamy. You can count on me."

“Then go. Lead my people to their justice and save your friends.”

Octavia and Indra both nodded, then took to the front of the group. With just a few words from Indra, the bulk of the army charged off down the hall, leaving the wounded to bring up the rear.

“Wait,” Anya said when Lexa made to follow them. “We have to wait for _Reivon._ ”

"Where is she _?_ " Lexa asked. "Did _Klark_ heal her?"

"Over here," someone coughed, and Lexa turned to see two figures stumbling out of the room and into the hall. On closer inspection, one was half-carrying the other: Finn staggered toward them slowly, with Raven's arm draped across his shoulders. One of her legs was bandaged and bloody, but she was at least upright.

Lexa lowered her sword and stepped forward to help, pushing past her fatigue, but Anya was faster. _"Reivon,"_ she gasped, ducking beneath the engineer's other arm to help bear some of her weight. "You made it."

"Anya...m'awake..." Raven mumbled. She smiled, but it was weak and watery with pain. "Griff...got the blueprints?"

Lexa and Anya both stared at each other in confusion until Finn hastened to clarify, “She means Clarke. Yeah, Raven, Clarke got them. She’s gonna go get our friends back.”

“S’good,” the beta muttered, visibly relaxing. “S’real good. We did good, huh, Anya? We…”

 _“Shof op, branwoda,”_ Anya said, but with obvious fondness. Lexa felt her heart seize in her chest just a bit, to see her _Fos_ acting this tenderly. She had not known Anya to be celibate, but she had never seen the older woman look this way at someone else before. She was going to tease the older alpha relentlessly about it – but despite their still-desperate situation, she took a moment to simply be happy for her former mentor.

A moment later, however, the look of tenderness on Anya’s face was replaced by something closer to panic, as Raven sagged alarmingly in her arms and nearly fell to the floor. “She’s lost a lot of blood,” Finn said, hurrying to help Anya keep the younger girl upright. “We need to get her medical attention _now.”_ Lexa smelled Anya’s protective fury and saw her lip curl up in a silent snarl, but the older alpha managed to keep control of herself.

“Yes,” she said, only a little curtly. “But I will not send her through the tunnel to the medics with you only. She will need someone with her who can fight. If you come upon any stragglers…”

“Go,” Lexa said, placing a hand on her former mentor’s shoulder. “I can catch up with my warriors on my own.”

Anya wavered, clearly torn between her duty to her _Heda_ and friend, and her newly-blossomed feelings for the almost-unconscious Raven. Lexa shook her head, smiling. “Go, _Fos._ You have done more for me than anyone. I will have the rest of my warriors to protect me. Now you must protect what is precious to you, and I will do the same.”

Anya gave her a long, searching look, but when Lexa did not waver, she nodded. “Very well. _Ste yuj, Seken._ I will see you after this is over.”

Lexa returned her nod. “ _En yu, Fos.”_ She hesitated for a moment, unsure of whether or not she should continue, but the words seemed appropriate, even if they were not hers. Holding out her arm for Anya to clasp, she murmured, “May we meet again,” and was unsurprised to hear the older alpha repeat the _Skaikru_ phrase.

Anya shifted Raven’s weight so that it was evenly distributed across her shoulders and Finn’s, and Lexa watched them make their slow, careful way back down the hall towards the tunnel. Once they were out of sight, she turned, scanning the passageway and trying to recall where to go next from the map cobbled together out of Lincoln and Raven’s accounts. A moment later, she spotted the corner around which her warriors had vanished. _There will be another hall, and at the end of it more stairs…_ Reivon _said that the_ Skaikru _prisoners were held in white rooms on a higher floor, but was it two or three floors higher?_ She racked her brain, but it was still muddled with the last traces of the gas. Ultimately, she suspected it wouldn’t matter as she got closer – all she would need to do was follow the noise. Her warriors could be subtle when they needed to be, but now was not the time. They were here to smash and grab, and then get out.

Her mind made up, Lexa began to walk in the direction she’d seen the _gonakru_ go, testing her balance and coordination with each step. Her head still felt foggy and her vision was still a little blurred, her hearing somewhat muffled, but it was getting clearer by the minute. She kept her focus firmly on her goal: _Get to_ Klark. _Get to the_ Skaikru. _Get out._ Despite herself, she could feel victory welling in her gut. They were really, truly going to do this. They were –

“Try anything and I’ll blow your brains out.”

The words were hissed into her ear by a harsh, raspy voice, and accompanied by the press of cold metal to her neck. Lexa froze, teeth bared in a snarl that she did not dare let out. There was an arm slung around her front and a beta scent, strange and metallic and _wrong_ in a way that she could not quite name, filling her nose and making it wrinkle, but with the muzzle of the gun pressed just under her jaw there was nothing she could do about it. _Stupid,_ she berated herself, _letting yourself get caught like this—but maybe he doesn’t know who you are…_

“All right, _Commander,_ time to find your friends,” the man said, putting paid to that hope. He gave her a light shove to get her walking, keeping the gun firmly against the soft skin of her neck, just above Clarke’s mating mark. “Let’s see if we can’t make a deal.”

* * *

"Clarke, wait!" Bellamy said from a few steps behind her. "Are you sure we're going the right way?"

Clarke snuck another peek down at the blueprints as she ran, but she didn't need confirmation that she was in the right place. The hallway was white—the blinding kind of white that screamed medical ward. The lights were painful to look at, and it smelled like disinfectant and despair. Everything had been scrubbed spotless, but somehow, it still seemed rotten.

"This is right," she panted without slowing down. "I know it is. Raven told us medical ward." She could feel it in her gut—something was leading her onward, urging her to hurry and find her friends. Her nose could almost pick up their scent, but it was old and stained with terror.

The sound of muffled shouting caught her attention, and she froze, lurching around the next corner. She couldn't make out any distinct words, but the tone was clearly panicked. Without checking to make sure Bellamy was following her, she shoved the blueprints back in her jacket and raised the muzzle of her gun instead. Lexa would probably kill her for running headfirst into something stupid, but...

"Help! No! Jasper, don't let them take me!"

 _Monty!_ This time, his voice wasn't muffled, but it was clearly frantic. She veered sideways again, right this time, and nearly ran straight into two figures: a woman in a white labcoat, and...

"Monty!"

"Clarke?"

"What the hell is going on?" The woman in the labcoat let go of Monty and turned, reaching for something at her hip, but Clarke didn't give her a chance to draw whatever it was. She brought her pistol crashing into the woman's face. She toppled to the ground, clearly stunned, blood leaking from her nose and the corner of her mouth.

It was only then that Clarke realized exactly what she had run into. She had been so focused on Monty and the strange woman that she hadn't even noticed the two guards flanking her. She tried to raise her gun, but she wasn't fast enough. They had already drawn their stun batons, preparing to bring them down—

She dodged, but it wasn't necessary. Bellamy’s pistol thundered in her ears, and one of the men fell. The other shouted in surprise as Monty threw both arms around his neck, trying to drag him to the ground. He raised his fist to punch, but Clarke didn't let the blow land. She shot without hesitation, aiming for the guard's stomach.

It wasn't enough to pierce his armor, but it was enough to stun him. He went down, crumpling between the woman and his companion. When neither of the three made a move to get up, Clarke breathed a sigh of relief. "Monty! You're okay!"

She wasn't sure whether she hugged him first, or he hugged her, but it didn't matter. "I told them you’d come for us, Clarke," Monty gasped beside her. "I knew you would..."

"Where are the others, Monty?" Bellamy asked. He was still on the defensive, checking both ends of the hall to make sure reinforcements weren't coming. "We need to get everyone out of here."

"Just through the door," Monty said. "They were taking us one by one." A shadow crossed his face, and he swallowed hard. "They've taken three of us so far, and none have come back."

"Who?" Clarke asked. She turned to look at the glassy-eyed, bleeding woman on the ground. A brass nametag glinted on her chest, printed neatly with black letters: "Doctor Tsing?"

Monty nodded. "Yeah."

That was enough for Bellamy. He aimed his pistol downward, firing a single shot. Clarke looked away, but not in time—she was treated to the sight of blood and brain matter streaking across the floor before she averted her gaze. Her stomach lurched, but she managed not to vomit despite the smell of blood—and it definitely helped that this was the woman who had been killing off her friends. After everything they had been through, she didn't have much pity left.

_I could have been one of the dead ones. Me, or even Lexa..._

That put a shot of steel back into her spine. "Okay, Monty. Let's get you out of here. I'm taking you back to Lexa's army. This sick place is going down in flames today."

"Lexa? She's here, too?"

Clarke nodded, but didn't pause to explain. _The faster I get my people out, the sooner I get to see her again._ She stepped over the bodies and opened the door the scuffle had taken place in front of, wrinkling her nose and gagging as the smell of fear and unwashed bodies hit her straight in the face. Crude, makeshift cages made of wire filled the room, with two or three people to each one. She recognized several faces, and they seemed to recognize her as well despite the warpaint, because several of them started speaking at once.

"Clarke?"

"Is that you?"

"Get us out!"

"Hold on," she said, hurrying over to one of the cages. The locks didn't seem too fancy—in fact, the whole room seemed as if it had been repurposed in a hurry—and she was fairly certain she could shoot it off if a well-placed kick didn't work. "I'm going to get you out of here."

"No, don't!" The voice came from a cage beside the one she had chosen, and she turned in surprise. It took her a moment to recognize the gaunt, pale face, the lower half covered in uneven stubble, but after a few seconds, she put it together.

"Jasper? What the hell are you talking about? We have to get you out of here—"

"If you do, they'll kill us," Jasper insisted with a stubborn shake of his head.

"They're already killing you," Bellamy grunted. Completely ignoring Jasper's protests, he went up to Jasper's cage and broke the lock with a stomp of his foot. The door swung open and Jasper’s fellow prisoners scurried out, but the beta boy remained where he was, practically shaking with indecision.

"But..."

"No one's come back after they were taken, Jasper," Monty said, in a much softer voice than Bellamy's. "This is our one shot at escape. Come on!"

Jasper didn't respond. He simply shook his head.

"We don't have time for this," Clarke said, narrowing her eyes at him. "Get out of the cage and come with us. We need to move—now!" _Lexa is still waiting for me. She might need me. She could be in danger..._

"Why should I listen to you? You're just a stupid omega who went and got herself fucked by the enemy, and now you want to deliver us right into their trap!"

Clarke prepared to argue, but there was no need. Bellamy reached into the cage and yanked Jasper out by his arm, turning him bodily until he was facing her. "See that girl?" he said, shaking him to punctuate the question. "She's done _everything_ to get you and the rest of our friends out of here. So if you don't want me to wring your stupid neck myself, you'll do _exactly_ what she says and treat her just like you would an alpha, and the leader of your pack. Is that clear?"

Jasper stared back and forth between Bellamy, stinking of fury and alpha pheromones, and Clarke, who was regarding him coldly, the remaining seconds that she was prepared to deal with his bullshit rapidly ticking off her internal clock. Just when she had opened her mouth to say “Forget him, Bellamy, he can stay here and rot,” Jasper ducked his head at her.

“All right.”

“Good,” Clarke said. “Then you can help us get everybody out of here. We don’t have much time—”

The sound of a flashbang going off in the corridor outside made them all jump and then clap their hands to their ringing ears. Luckily, they had avoided the bright, disorienting light that accompanied the noise, but Clarke still found herself staggering and dizzy as she made her way to the door and carefully peered out. What she saw made her heart sink.

A cadre of Mountain Men was advancing steadily towards them from the other end of the corridor. All of them were dressed in body armor and carrying stun batons and, in the front lines, riot shields. When one of the guards caught sight of Clarke, he shouted, “Hey, you! Get on your knees, hands in the air!”

Clarke cursed and pulled her head back, but not before she heard the sound of a rubber bullet whizzing through the air. _At least they’re using nonlethal force…for now. Still, that’s not gonna be much help for a bunch of scared, hungry, unarmed kids._ She turned to look at Bellamy, and they shared a grim look that wordlessly expressed the hopelessness of the situation. The best they could do would be to barricade the door and see if they could hold out against the _Maunon_ long enough for Lexa and her warriors to arrive…

_“Gonakru, jomp em op! Jus drein, jus daun!”_

The lone voice was Indra’s, but the roar that echoed her words came from many throats. Clarke’s heart leapt, and she had to restrain herself from dashing out into the corridor. _Lexa!_ Instead, she looked out again, just in time to see the terror on the Mountain Men’s faces as the full force of the Grounder warband slammed into them from behind. She had expected to see Lexa leading the charge, but instead she caught sight of Indra and Octavia side by side, faces twisted into furious snarls as they let loose bloodcurdling war cries.

Then everything was chaos, a press of bodies crammed together in the corridor. At some point an errant bullet hit one of the overhead lights and all of them started flickering, creating a strobe effect that only heightened the sense of pandemonium. Clarke felt desperation rising in her throat again as she watched, unable to tell who was who, who was winning. She turned back around to where Jasper and Bellamy were practically piled on top of each other, trying to get a look out the door. At her expression, they both backed up a pace.

“We have to do something,” she shouted over the clamor.

“We need to get everyone out of here,” Jasper retorted. Despite his argumentative tone, Clarke’s nose was wrinkling at the harsh stink of his terror. “We can’t just wait to see who wins!”

“We need to _help_ them,” Clarke snarled, and was about to go on when Bellamy’s face split into an incongruous grin.

“We can do both,” he bellowed. “If we get everybody out of their cages, it’s close enough quarters in here that if we all attack together, we can overwhelm them!”

Hope welled in Clarke’s heart again, and she nodded. “It’s our best shot. Let’s go!”

She didn't wait to see whether the other Delinquents would obey. With a roar just like Indra's and Octavia's, she charged out into the hallway. They followed her instantly, moving as a pack into the fray. Clarke aimed her gun at the nearest figure in armor, trying to find an open place to shoot, but she never got the chance. Before she could pull the trigger, a loud voice rose above the chaos.

"Stop! Put down your weapons and surrender, or your Commander dies."

Clarke whirled toward the voice—and instantly froze. There was a man in a neatly-pressed suit, hair slicked back, not even a stitch out of place and not wearing armor at all, standing at the entrance to the hall. He looked utterly out of place in the midst of the battle, except for the fact that he was holding a gun to her mate's neck. Lexa's face was twisted in fury, lip peeled back in a feral snarl, but as soon as the alpha saw her, Clarke watched her face transform from anger to fear. Terror clogged her own throat, and she couldn't breathe.

"Lexa!"

_"Klark..."_

A look of understanding dawned on the man's face as he studied her, and Clarke caught his eyes darting down to the mating mark on Lexa's neck. He made the connection in an instant—she could _see_ it in the smug tilt of his lips—and it took everything she had not to raise her gun again. Only the shiny muzzle pressed up under Lexa’s jaw prevented her from attacking first and asking questions later. Her heart and head pounded, frantic and stuttering.

_Lexa...Lexa...Lexa..._

She looked to the army of Grounders, to Indra and Octavia, to her fellow Delinquents, but none of them seemed to know what to do either. With the Commander held at gunpoint, they all seemed nearly as overwhelmed as she was, waiting for orders.

"Lower your weapons," the man in the suit said again. "Do it, or she dies."

 _"No, Indra, nou sen em in,"_ Lexa snarled, although Clarke noticed that her lover's eyes remained locked with hers. _"Jomp em op! Teik dison laik odon!"_ Clarke couldn't understand all the words, but she saw the light go out of Lexa's eyes, and a dim look of resignation come over them instead.

 _She's...she's telling Indra to attack. She's giving up her own life..._ She blinked back the burn in her eyes, tightening her grip on her gun and refusing to put it down no matter how much her hand shook. _No. No. I can't let her do that. I can't lose her like this..._

She whirled on Indra. "Don't you dare. If you charge, she dies! You can't let your Commander get shot like that!"

 _"Klark,_ stop," Lexa whispered, in a voice so soft that it almost didn't sound like it belonged to her. "Death is not the end. The next Commander will—"

 _"No,"_ Clarke said, shaking her head and ignoring the tears that rolled down her cheeks. “I don’t want the next Commander, I want _you._ You are _not_ dying today. Or ever. I won't let you."

"You're right," the man in the suit said, in an infuriatingly calm voice. "Your mate doesn't need to die. My name is President Cage Wallace...and I assume you must be Clarke Griffin. Your companions have told me a lot about you."

"I don't care who you are," Clarke spat. "You abducted our people. If you think I'm going to listen to a word you say—"

"You will listen," Cage said, "or she dies. It's really that simple. And it's not like I want a lot in return. I'm willing to let the Commander's army—and even you—walk out of here without any more bloodshed. Neither of us want to lose any more people, do we?"

"Don't listen to a word he says, _Klark,"_ Lexa said, still quiet and resigned. Her throat bobbed, but her chin never dipped in submission. "Please, I beg you. Finish this, for both of our people. Let me go."

"I only want one thing in return," Cage said, ignoring Lexa completely. Instead, he stared directly at Clarke, his smug expression making her skin crawl. "Your mate and the rest of the Outsiders can leave with you, but the people from the Ark stay behind."

Clarke felt the blood rushing from her face, her limbs growing leaden. Cage was the one who had spoken, but she couldn’t take her eyes off Lexa’s. Brilliant green stared back at her, the color of a forest just after a rain, vibrant and full of life. _Alive. We could both walk out of here…alive…_ It would just require betraying her people—her friends, who had fallen to Earth with her, who had fought with her and against her, who had lived through the nightmare of the first few weeks with her… But the alternative was losing Lexa, which would be like losing half of her heart.

 _“Klark,”_ Lexa said again, and she savored the way her mate’s mouth wrapped around the sounds of her name. The thought of never hearing her name said that way again—the subtle click at the beginning and end telling her that Lexa was saying it like it was in her native tongue, a name given to someone who had grown up on the ground, just like her— was pure torture. “Listen to me,” Lexa said, her eyes and voice begging Clarke to obey her, but not in the way that an alpha might order an omega. This was a plea. In these words, she was only Lexa, pleading with Clarke to do as she bid.

“Your people need you, _Klark,”_ her mate told her urgently, but still in the same quiet voice of acceptance. “There will always be another Commander to carry the Flame, but there is no one who can replace you. Don’t give up your fight. Your people need _you.”_

Everything crystallized in Clarke’s mind then, although she could not have said quite why. Time seemed to slow down, and things that had felt disjointed all snapped into place. Her next course of action seemed alarmingly clear, broken into simple, easy-to-follow steps: the gun in her hand, the time she would need to raise it and aim, the height difference between Lexa and Cage. In that moment, she felt calm, serene even, as though this weren’t the most important thing she had ever done in her life, as though her very being didn’t hinge on whether she succeeded or failed. There was no question of success or failure in her mind, even – there was only what she needed to do.

“You are my people,” Clarke said through gritted teeth, and then she raised her gun and fired.

The sound of the bullet reverberated in the empty hallway, but Clarke had no time to spare for it. She was already rushing forward, her weapon dropping to the floor as she stretched out her hands to catch Lexa before she hit the ground. She knelt, cradling the alpha’s slim frame to her chest as she pressed her hands down on the wound in Lexa’s shoulder where the bullet had passed through, straight to Cage’s heart. The _Maunon_ had fallen with nothing more than a strangled choking noise, and now he lay on the ground, utterly still. Clarke didn’t even need to reach out and check his pulse before raising her head to look at the remaining Mountain soldiers.

“It’s over,” she told them in a low growl, eyes promising total destruction. “Your leader’s dead, and we’re taking our people out of here. If you don’t want to be next, get the hell out of my way.”

She could hear them start to move, to scramble out of the way for Bellamy and the _Trikru_ fighters, but she could barely spare a second of concern for them. All that she cared about was that Lexa was still with her, alive and breathing, chest moving steadily under Clarke’s hands. She finally allowed herself to look down, and let out a breath of her own when she saw that while black blood was still pouring out between her fingers, it had already begun to slow. “Lexa…?” she said hesitantly, wishing she could see her mate’s face but unwilling to ease the pressure on her wound.

Lexa drew in a shuddering breath that seemed to take half of forever. “Good…shot,” she mumbled on the exhale, and while Clarke could hear the pain and exhaustion in the alpha’s voice, the fact that she was _alive,_ they were both alive and they had won, made it the sweetest thing she had ever heard.

“Hang on for me,” Clarke said, dipping her head and filling her nose with her mate’s scent. “Nyko will be here with the medical supplies any minute, and we’ll get you patched up and on a stretcher. We’ll make sure everybody’s present and accounted for, and then we’ll get out of this Mountain and nobody will ever have to see it again. Then we can all go home.”

Lexa didn’t reply immediately, and Clarke looked down again, concern filling her veins with ice, before she realized that the alpha was letting out a low, stuttering rumble. A few seconds later, as it began to seep through her body and settle into her bones, putting her instantly at ease, she realized that Lexa was purring.


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well... this is it. The end. I can't believe we've finished it.
> 
> But never fear. There will be some more in this universe once we take a break to write some oneshots. ^__^

"Hold still," Clarke murmured, stroking the side of Lexa's arm to soothe her before returning to work. As wonderful a leader and as wonderful a mate as Lexa was, her behavior as a patient left much to be desired. They were currently seated in Arkadia's medical ward, which Abby had allowed her to use for Lexa's checkups—checkups Clarke had to admit were slightly more frequent than was necessary. But she couldn't help it. She had shot her mate, even if it was to save her, and every time she saw her lover's face contort in pain, she felt an answering pang straight through her own chest.

"I am holding still," Lexa protested, and Clarke pushed down the echo of guilt, glancing up from Lexa's wound to meet her eyes.

"No, you're not. You're squirming. The faster you let me look at it, the faster this will be over."

Lexa sighed in resignation. "Fine. But please, hurry."

"I won’t hurry," Clarke said, giving Lexa a serious look. "It takes as long as it takes."

"You said it would be over quickly," Lexa protested.

"I said no such thing. You're twisting my words," Clarke said, but after a moment, she couldn't continue hiding her smile. "If you're patient, I'll have a surprise for you at the end."

That got Lexa's attention. Her brows lifted, her entire face shifting from annoyance to curiosity. "A surprise? Is this common among your people,  _ Klark? _ Rewarding patients for good behavior?"

Clarke snorted. "Wait, are you telling me Grounder pups don't get treats after behaving themselves at the doctor? Then again, with the way you probably acted..."

"Just finish checking the wound," Lexa sighed, "and pray that any pups of ours will take after you rather than me when they visit the healer’s hut."

A flush crept across Clarke's face, and she ducked to hide it, busying herself with peeling back the rest of Lexa's bandages. To her relief, there was little to find underneath. The wound had closed at last, and all that remained was a rippling scar. "Good news," she said, trailing her fingers around the wound to feel for signs of heat. The skin didn't seem unusually warm, another excellent sign, and better yet, Lexa didn't seem to be in any pain. "I think we can get rid of these bandages and let it breathe."

"That is good news." Lexa immediately began testing out her range of motion, lifting her arm and moving it in circles. A scrunched line appeared in the middle of her forehead, and Clarke grabbed her hand before she could do more damage.

"Stop that," she ordered, bringing Lexa's hand to her lips for a kiss. "You're going to tear it open again. It just healed."

"Thanks to your fine work." Lexa used the same hand to cup Clarke's cheek, stroking its curve with her thumb. "I could not ask for a better healer."

"I had to," Clarke said, biting at her lower lip. Of course, Lexa noticed, urging her to stop with a soft touch to the corner of her mouth.

"Because you love me,  _ niron, _ or because you were the one to cause the wound?"

_ And there it is.  _ “I want to take care of you, of course,” Clarke began slowly. She chose her words carefully, conscious of the alpha’s keen stare. While she would ordinarily be thankful beyond measure for the clarity of Lexa’s gaze, especially when compared to the drug-muddled, glazed expression her mate had worn while she’d been doped up on the heaviest of the painkillers, right now Clarke found herself wishing shamefully that Lexa wasn't quite so well recovered as to no longer need the medicine.

_ “ _ Part of it is because you're my mate, and I love you,” she said quickly, pausing to blush at the words, still so fresh and new on her tongue, like the pure water of an undiscovered wellspring after a long drought. But even the brilliant happiness that swelled in her chest as she thought about the phrase couldn't protect her from the worry that lurked beneath. The Commander was still waiting quietly, albeit with finite patience.  _ Damn her,  _ Clarke thought, eyeing her mate with fond exasperation.  _ That's how she gets you, isn't it? She just stares at you until you start babbling and eventually you realize how stupid you sound. Bet that's how she put the whole Coalition together. _

But Lexa was still waiting for an answer, her gaze steady and quiet and filled with affection, and Clarke couldn't deny her. She sighed, twisting her hands in Lexa’s bedsheets, not quite able to meet her  _ niron’ _ s eyes. “The other part is that…yeah, I guess I still feel bad—”  _ awful, miserable, guilty _ —“that I shot you.”

“You  _ saved  _ me,  _ Klark,”  _ Lexa insisted gently. Her fingers tangled with Clarke’s, stopping their anxious motions. “You saved our people. The Mountain’s dominion is over. If the price is so small as a bullet wound, I will wear that scar proudly, and smile whenever I see it.”

Clarke rolled her eyes at her mate’s grandiose words, but couldn’t help returning the alpha’s smile. It melted from her face before long, however, as she sank into the memory of how Lexa had acquired the wound she was currently treating, how the Commander had slumped so bonelessly in her arms, how black blood had poured between her fingers, and how, even though she was the one in mortal peril, Lexa tried to give her what comfort she could…

“I just can’t…understand how you could forgive me so quickly. I mean, it’s not just as simple as  _ You shot me for our people, so it’s all right,  _ right?” She ran a hand through her hair agitatedly, still not quite able to meet Lexa’s eyes, although she knew without looking just how her mate would look: patient, calm, and insufferably wise. Well, Lexa might have had ancient spirits in her head giving her advice, but Clarke didn’t. She was on her own here, and she had been through a lot in just over a month, since she’d fallen to Earth: fought a war to eke out survival, attempted to end said war and wound up mated to the enemy leader, escaped death numerous times and managed to keep her mother from killing her mate, fallen in love…

“You’re not alone in this,  _ Klark,” _ Lexa said softly, her thumb rubbing circles against Clarke’s hand. The omega blushed guiltily, realizing that she must have said some of what she was thinking aloud. “You have me. And while it is not quite so simple as you have suggested, perhaps it isn’t the method itself that matters, but the fact that we are still here, and that you had the strength to do what had to be done. To take a life, in order to save mine. And to free our people from the Mountain’s shadow.”

Clarke released a long breath of air, slumping with relief as she emptied her lungs. It wasn't only Lexa's words, eloquent as they were, that eased her guilt, but the loving tone of her voice, and the utter trust shining from her green eyes. Lexa had faith in her—admired her beyond the way one admired a lover, but as a fellow leader of her people.  _ And it would be rude to tell her that admiration is misplaced. I might feel like I’m only a scared girl with a gun sometimes, but she sees something more. Maybe I should trust what she sees from the outside more than how I feel on the inside. _

"If you've already forgiven me, I guess I should forgive myself, shouldn't I?"

Lexa smiled in agreement. "You are strong,  _ Klark, _ but don't waste that strength carrying a pointless burden. Save it for something more important."

Clarke leaned forward, curling her fingers around the back of Lexa's neck. After pausing for a moment to make sure the gesture was welcome, she placed a soft, lingering kiss on her mate's lips, savoring the warmth as their mouths met. Fresh strength and confidence swelled within her, and when she pulled away, she was grinning. "Now that you're getting better, will you teach me how to fight with a sword? I might actually be a match for you while you're injured."

"You underestimate the difficulty," Lexa laughed, but she nodded in agreement. "Yes, I will teach you. It is true that I am out of practice. A little friendly sparring will benefit both of us."

"Friendly sparring, huh?" Clarke scooted in closer, running both palms down along Lexa's sides to hold her hips. "A little bit like this?" She started to lean in for another kiss, but the sound of the door opening distracted her. Past Lexa's shoulder, she saw her mother enter the medical bay, holding a clipboard in her hand and wearing an expression of surprise and mild discomfort on her face.

Clarke started to pull away, but Lexa placed a hand on her leg to keep her where she was. "Hello, Abby," she said, with more warmth than Clarke was expecting. She knew Lexa had been making a concentrated effort to show Abby respect and form a cordial relationship with her during the past several weeks, and Clarke was incredibly grateful. She could feel the way their alpha hormones peaked whenever they were in close proximity, and she knew it couldn't have been easy on her mate to share such a tight space with another very dominant alpha.

"You know, this kind of doctor-patient relationship isn't exactly ethical." Abby smiled to show it was a joke before Clarke could start protesting. "How are you feeling, Lexa?"

"Healthy," Lexa said, showing Abby the renewed mobility of her arm. "Your medicine is astounding. I can tell it will be of great benefit to my people. A wound like this normally takes much longer to heal."

Clarke was only half listening. Instead, her focus was on the clipboard in Abby's hand. Her eyebrows rose in question, but her mother didn't seem to notice—or if she did, she hid her reaction well. When Abby finally did meet her gaze, it didn't reveal anything. Awkwardly, Clarke rubbed at her inner arm, the same spot Abby had drawn blood from earlier.

While her mother insisted on keeping up a pretext of inspecting Lexa’s shoulder, Clarke could smell the impatience rising off of both her mother and her mate, and knew that she couldn't be much better. She worried at her lip, eyes glued to the clipboard her mother had set aside in order to test the younger alpha’s range of motion, and while Lexa was grudgingly cooperative Clarke could feel the iron-hard tension in her mate’s thigh where it pressed against her own. If her mom kept on like this for much longer, Lexa was going to snap— _ and we were doing so well,  _ she couldn't help thinking, at once sardonic and rueful.  _ They managed not to argue for a whole eighteen hours…  _

While it was a far cry from the deadly tension of their first meeting, relations between her mother and her mate were strained at best. Part of it Clarke couldn't blame them for. Abby was a very dominant alpha and, as Chancellor, the Ark was her turf—and its medical bay even more so. Dr. Griffin might have been subject to the democratic whims of her people, but to her patients, she was a dictator. However, Lexa was also very dominant, and as  _ Heda _ of the Twelve Clans, Alpha of All Packs, whatever of whatever, she was used to being obeyed without question no matter whose territory she found herself in. 

It was a complicated situation to be caught in the middle of, and Clarke couldn't deny that it was wearing on her. She'd had sharp words with both of them, both separately and together, and had extracted promises that they would attempt to remain civil with one another, if only for her sake. Lexa had growled and huffed, but her assertions of the primacy of  _ Heda _ over any regional clan ruler had died away under Clarke’s firm glare. To her surprise, her mother actually proved the easier sell. It had only taken a few minutes of lecturing before Abby had sighed and raised her hands in defeat. “All right, all right, I’ll do my best. There's clearly no point in trying to run her off, anyway—she's taken a bullet for you, and that usually means they're in it for the long haul.” Clarke had been prepared for a much longer fight, and her mother’s swift acquiescence took her so off guard that her jaw was still hanging open when Abby pulled her into a hug.

But if the tightness in Abby’s voice and the sub-audible growl she could feel vibrating through Lexa’s body was any indication, the already fraught peace she had managed to broker was about to snap. Merely for the sake of cutting the bullshit, Clarke found herself on the verge of shrieking at her mother to drop the pretext, Lexa was fine,  _ what was on that chart? _

But before she had to, or before her mate could erupt, Abby gave a short, sharp sigh and dropped Lexa’s arm rather unceremoniously before stepping away and reaching for her chart. Lexa and Clarke sucked in simultaneous involuntary breaths, then darted guilty glances at each other, hoping that Abby hadn't noticed. The sharpness of the older alpha’s gaze as she returned to Lexa’s bedside, chart in hand, told them in no uncertain terms that she had.

“Well, the results came back from the lab,” Abby said, as though “the lab” were something other than the back wall of the medical bay where she and Jackson ran rudimentary tests with what little equipment had survived the fall to Earth. Absurdly, Clarke found herself reaching for Lexa’s hand, desperate for the comfort of her mate’s warm, rough grip. That comfort was quickly granted—although its tightness suggested that she wasn't alone in the mingled nervousness and excitement coiling in her belly. 

Abby opened her mouth to speak a couple of times, and then shut it just as quickly. Clarke nearly snapped at her to stop playing around, it just wasn't funny, but then she noticed the glistening in her mother’s eyes and the slight quiver of her lower lip. Her annoyance melted away, and she got up off the bed to give Abby a swift hug before tugging the clipboard gently out of the older alpha’s hand and returning to the bed. Drawing in a breath, she flipped open the chart that read “Griffin, Clarke” and turned to the most recent page, which had “PREGNANCY TEST” stamped across the very top. 

* * *

Raven stared down at the radio she was supposed to be repairing, trying to summon the will to keep working. She'd been up most of the night tinkering in her new workshop, even though there wasn't much urgent work to be done. The pain in her leg made it difficult to sleep, and lying alone in bed with nothing to do but think was unbearable. She knew Anya would have joined her, stroked her hair, held her until the aches subsided and she was finally able to drift off, but she hadn't felt strong enough to ask.

Not strong enough. That was what it came down to. It had taken her weeks to recover, but there were some things time couldn't heal. She'd been seriously injured in the blast, and according to Abby, her leg would never be the same again. And if it was to get any better at all, it would require more pain—pain she was ashamed to admit that she didn't feel stalwart enough to bear. She had escaped the Mountain and survived, returned to the Ark a hero, but freedom hadn't tasted as sweet as she'd expected. Her life would never be the same, and coming to grips with that fact was hard.

She blinked and shook her head, trying to focus. The wires and dials in front of her made just about as much sense as her emotions—which was to say, none at all. With a sigh, she slumped back in her chair, wincing a little as her leg shifted position under the workbench. She was wearing the brace Abby had fitted her with, but it only helped her move about with a limping sort of gait. It didn't do anything for the stiffness, the soreness, the sharp stabs of pain.

_ "Reivon?" _

The sound of a familiar voice snapped her out of her despondency. She knew who it was without turning, and she was at once happy and relieved and worried to hear Anya calling her name. Their relationship had remained in a sort of holding pattern for the past several weeks. There was still an understanding that the two of them had feelings for each other—deep ones—but Raven's injury had put a new barrier between them too.

If she was being honest with herself, Raven wasn't sure why Anya was still pursuing her, with her leg the way it was. It was a slow and careful pursuit that didn't take anything for granted despite the hell they'd been through, always respectful, but a pursuit nonetheless. But surely, said a voice in the back of her head, one that sounded suspiciously like her mother, surely that pursuit had almost ended. Anya would be better—and happier, most likely—with someone whole and healthy, someone who could move freely and wouldn't be kept up at night by pain and ghosts. Surely the alpha would realize that sooner or later.  

"Hey, Anya," she said with forced cheerfulness. She turned in her chair, an action that took more effort than she was comfortable showing on her face. "Come to check up on me again?"

Anya gave her a look of slight disapproval. "I went to look for you at the medical bay to see if you wanted to share lunch." The silent question,  _ Why weren't you there? _ hung in the air between them.

"I knew Abby was going to check up on Lexa and Clarke this afternoon anyway. She probably wouldn't have had time for me..."

"Nonetheless, you had an agreement to meet her for your physical therapy, and you did not go."

The words were calm, but they touched a nerve in Raven anyway. She scowled, eyes narrowing. "What are you, my babysitter? Missing one day of PT isn't going to kill me. My leg's fucked up anyway, right? And I don't know if you've noticed, but PT really fucking hurts."

Anya didn't respond to the sharp words. She remained calm and inscrutable as the undisturbed surface of a lake, which was all the more infuriating. "You have never shied away from pain before,  _ Reivon. _ There is something else going on." Her eyes softened, and she stepped forward, approaching the workbench until she was close enough that Raven had to stop herself from reaching out and touching her. "Please, tell me?"

The tenderness in her voice, the gentleness and hurt in her eyes, made Raven once again want to reach out for her and yet, at the same time, draw away. Even if Anya wasn't aware of it, and Raven was pretty sure she was, she was asking for more than just an update on Raven’s injury. She was asking for entrance to a door the mechanic hadn't opened for  _ anyone,  _ not since Finn—and look how well that had gone—and she couldn't help fearing that if she gave Anya the key, the alpha would set up house in Raven’s heart and never leave.

Almost as frightening as that realization was the hope that swelled within her alongside the fear: hope that  _ maybe she could be the one…Maybe she  _ wouldn't  _ break my trust and hurt me like Finn… _

But there had been so many people who had promised they would protect her, take care of her, people who'd even said they loved her, for her to be able to open herself up to that vulnerability, no matter how much her heart cried out for it. So she turned her head away, muttering, “It’s nothing. I just needed a day off, okay? Jesus.”

She could hear the hurt clearly in Anya’s voice a moment later when the alpha said, “I see.” Raven kept her eyes on the radio in her hands, glaring furiously to prevent the heavy pressure in her temples from spilling forth as the Grounder’s footsteps carried her back across the workshop, towards the door. When it clicked shut, Raven let out a heavy sigh, expecting to be alone.  _ Great. Well done, Reyes. You just pushed away the only person who actually gives a shit about you in this entire goddamn station, probably even this entire goddamn world… _

And then her chair was being spun around and Anya was  _ there,  _ closer than she'd been in over two weeks. Raven found herself tossed forcefully into a memory of Anya leaning closer, the alpha’s scent closing over her head like a heavy cloud, intoxicating. Then, as now, she felt like she was about to drown in it, but it was a surrender she found she welcomed.

Still, she couldn't help being startled at Anya’s sudden closeness. “What are you doing?” she stuttered, backing up until she fetched up against the edge of her workbench and had no further to go. Her nails dug into the table’s edge and she gritted her teeth as Anya drew nearer still, praying the alpha couldn't smell the reason her heart was pumping fit to bursting in her chest: not fear, or at least, not exactly…

“I want to make a deal with you,  _ Reivon kom Skaikru,”  _ Anya said, her voice low and impossibly attractive, her eyes dark and hooded. Her mouth—oh god, her mouth—was just barely open, her lip just barely curled, showing the barest hint of teeth. Raven had never wondered about it a day in her life, but she was wondering now how those teeth would feel sinking into her neck. It took her a moment to realize that Anya was waiting for a response.

“D-deal?” she stammered, heart thumping even harder against her ribs at the little smirk Anya gave her. “What kind of a deal?”

“You will go to your therapy sessions every day,” Anya said, her voice somehow managing to be both smooth and rough at the same time and damn if it didn't make Raven weak at the knees. “You will do all that your  _ fisa  _ tells you to do in order to heal yourself. You will not hide away in your workshop, tinkering with your toys, in order to avoid pain.”

Abruptly, Raven found her voice, breathy and uneven though it was, and was able to inject it with a note of challenge. “Yeah? And what's in it for me?”

Anya’s smirk grew toothier as she leaned even closer, bracing her palms on the workbench right next to Raven’s sweaty ones. “This.”

And then her lips were on Raven’s, hard and pressing but also the softest that Raven had ever touched, and the way they felt as they moved had her head spinning. The lean line of Anya’s body settled along hers, pressing her gently but firmly back against the workbench, and Raven had to bite back a groan against Anya’s bottom lip.

That prompted a low growl that Raven could  _ feel  _ rumbling where Anya’s chest pressed against hers, and her nipples tightened instantly against her shirt.  _ Fuck,  _ this was moving so fast, but  _ fuck  _ did she want it…had wanted it since the first time they had kissed in Mount Weather, if she was being honest with herself. And Anya seemed to be demanding nothing but complete honesty from her, at least where her body was concerned. Right now Anya was giving her the time and the space to put emotions aside and just  _ feel.  _

Desire was something she could work with. It was simple, and easy to understand, and it pulsed through her entire body every time Anya's lips glided across hers. Tongues brushed, teeth nipped, and they panted raggedly into each other's mouths only when they absolutely had to break apart for breath. It was dizzying and confusing and more than a little frightening, but it was also perfect. She wanted more. No—she  _ needed _ more.

Raven's head spun, and she was so overwhelmed that she didn't even realize she had started to pull Anya's shirt over her head until her fingertips grazed the soft skin of the alpha's abdomen. Her heart skipped a beat as she traced the firm muscles, and she was all too aware that she hadn't asked for permission, but Anya didn't seem to mind at all. She pulled away for a split second, ripping the shirt over her head and tossing it to the ground.

In the moment before their mouths fused again, Raven stared in awe. Anya's body was lithe and wiry, but it was curved in all the right places, places that Raven ached to learn with her palms. She slid her hands along Anya's sides, up toward the bottom of her breastband, wanting to take it off, but not sure if she should.

She didn't even have to ask. Anya gave her another hard, hungry kiss, one that almost made Raven melt into a puddle on the workbench, and then removed it herself. "God, you're beautiful," Raven blurted out before she could stop herself. Anya's breasts were on the smaller side, but there was still more than enough to fill Raven’s hands when she cupped the soft flesh. They were capped with dark brown nipples, which had already hardened to stiff, pleading peaks.

"So are you," Anya panted. She didn't seem at all ashamed or embarrassed by her nakedness, or her obvious desire. In fact, she grinned, eyeing Raven's shirt with a certain amount of anticipation. "At least, I assume so..."

Raven got the hint. She stripped her own shirt up and off, not caring about the way it mussed the top of her ponytail. She went to work on her bra, but ended up forgetting how to undo the hooks and groaning instead as Anya's lips found her neck. They felt almost as good there as they had on her mouth, and Raven shuddered at the heat. While she shivered, Anya’s clever fingers unlatched the hooks she had fumbled with, and her bra fell into her lap between them.

Freed from the burden of clothing, their hands were roaming everywhere. Raven slid her fingertips along the sleek surface of Anya's back, feeling the raised scars there as well as the flexing muscles. Anya's nails raked along her sides before sliding up to her breasts, cupping them both and squeezing lightly. Not to be outdone, Raven leaned in for another kiss, nipping at Anya's lower lip until the alpha whined with need and approval.

"You can touch me harder," Raven muttered into her mouth. "My leg's the only part of me that's fucked up. The rest of me won't break."

"That sounds like a challenge," Anya said, pulling back briefly to give Raven a delighted smirk. "Are you sure?"

Raven met Anya's eyes and held them, nodding once. "You bet your ass. Just shut up and fuck me."

Anya’s eyebrows rose, and for a moment Raven was afraid that she'd made a mistake, crossed some line—but then Anya’s mouth was on hers again, hard and urgent, and her doubts were instantly assuaged. Anya’s tongue slid along the seam of her lips, urging them open, and slipped in to explore Raven’s mouth as soon as she obeyed. Anya’s hands resumed their grasp of Raven’s hips, holding them in place as she rocked her pelvis forward, and Raven gasped into Anya’s mouth as she felt the firm swell pressing just where she needed it—only with several inconvenient layers of clothes between. 

She found herself arching so as to better rub against the growing hardness between the other woman’s legs, and she could feel herself getting wet—wetter than she could remember being in a long time.  _ Too long, _ she thought hazily, and then her capacity for rational thought flew out the window as one of Anya’s hands slid around her waist and down to take firm hold of her ass. She hurried to reciprocate, seeing no reason to deny herself what she’d been craving for longer than she’d care to admit, and was delighted to find it just as firm and toned as she'd imagined.  _ Better, even.  _ This was the real thing, after all—Anya was really here, really half-naked and kissing the daylights out of her, really hard and throbbing just for her…

The thought made her squeeze the firm handful of ass in her grip even harder, and Anya let out a low growl into her mouth, hips rocking against Raven’s insistently. Both of them broke apart, gasping, and Raven shivered under Anya’s lust-darkened gaze. “You make me crazy,  _ Reivon kom Skaikru.  _ I hope you're prepared to deal with the consequences.” 

Raven summoned the last of her sanity to lift her eyebrow and smirk. “Are you?”

Anya let out a low groan before leaning in to kiss her again. Her hands flew to the button of Raven’s pants and flicked it open, yanking down the zipper in one sharp jerk. Then Raven was moaning hoarsely into the still air of the workshop as Anya’s hand shoved past the waistband of her shorts and down into the ocean between her legs. 

She hadn't thought for one second that Anya would be one of those alphas who had no idea how to please a beta or omega, but this was beyond any of her wildest, most feverish expectations. In a few swift strokes, the Grounder seemed to have learned everything that Raven could have explained about her preferences, and maybe even more besides. Anya’s fingers blazed a searing path through Raven’s heated folds, seeking out the places and the motions that drew the loudest gasps, moans, and, in one instance that made heat rise to Raven’s cheeks, an actual whimper. Soon her hips were pushing almost frantically towards Anya's hand, rolling in time with the alpha’s movements and practically begging for more friction, and she felt herself embarrassingly close to an orgasm. 

As soon as the realization hit, however, Raven’s head cleared just enough for her to realize that she didn't want to be alone in this. They were moving fast and it felt amazing, and she was so,  _ so _ ready, but she didn't want to fall over the edge by herself. So, drawing on every ounce of willpower she possessed, she squeezed her thighs shut. The angle and the tightness of her undershorts allowed her to trap Anya’s hand in place, although those long, slender, torturous fingers never fully stopped moving. Gritting her teeth, Raven forced as much of the breathiness from her voice as she could. 

“Not so fast,” she told Anya, low. “I showed you mine, now you show me yours.”

“I have not actually  _ seen _ anything yet,” Anya muttered, but when Raven reached for her belt buckle, she moved her hips back to allow access.

Raven's fingers were skilled at many things. She was the youngest zero-G mechanic in fifty two years, and she could rewire something and have it working again before most people could finish taking it apart to find the problem. As she unfastened Anya's pants, however, her hands trembled. The simple task suddenly seemed enormously complicated, and she fumbled with the fastenings until Anya finally had to step in and finish the job for her.

"Here," Anya said at the same moment Raven muttered, "Sorry, let me—"

Their hands met at the juncture of Anya's legs just as the last buckle came free. Anya's pants finally slid down to her knees, and Raven didn't waste any time. She reached forward to cup the strained shaft she had felt earlier, and although she very much wanted to look instead of just touching, she couldn't seem to tear her eyes away from Anya's. When she looked into them, all the pain and anger she had carried since Mount Weather faded away to nothing. All she could think about was how beautiful they were.

She was so entranced that she hardly remembered what she was doing until Anya rocked forward, urging her to keep going. Wetness coated her fingers, trailing along the side of her hand, and Raven finally looked down. She had been with alphas before, as well as male betas like Finn. Cocks weren't anything new or special to her. But this time, as she examined at the firm shaft jutting from between Anya's legs, her heart raced.

It wasn't the size, although that was certainly impressive. It wasn't how warm and smooth it was, or the thick vein along one side, or the head which was already leaking clear fluid across Raven's fist. It was simply the fact that this was Anya—Anya hard and ready in her hand—that filled Raven with joy. She hadn't been sure this would ever happen. She had hoped, of course, even during their worst days in Mount Weather, but...

_ "Reivon?" _ She felt gentle fingers caress her cheek and looked up to see Anya's brow creased with concern. "Where are you?"

Raven laughed. She knew Anya must have been confused at the shift from fiery passion to awestruck gratitude, but all she said was, "Right where I want to be."

When they kissed again, the spark returned. Their mouths melted together, hot and sweet, and Raven made sure to press her tongue past Anya's lips. She began pumping her fist, drawing more heat from the tip of the alpha's cock. It throbbed hard in her palm, pounding heavily, and Raven shuddered at the pleased groans that spilled from Anya's mouth into hers. They made the ache between her own legs double, and her underwear was still wet from before, clinging to her in awkward places. She missed Anya's knowing fingers, although she couldn't help but imagine how Anya's shaft would feel in their place.

Raven began tugging at her own pants one-handed, unwilling to stop stroking Anya's length, but equally unwilling to stay clothed. She  _ needed _ more contact—anything at all. The firm surface of Anya's thigh, her fingertips, the heel of her hand...

"Fuck," she gasped as one of Anya's knees pushed between her bare thighs. It was more than enough. Raven started grinding, painting Anya's skin with wetness as an answering flow dripped between her fingers. Her hand closed even more firmly around the throbbing length in her fist, its heat seeming to almost sear her skin as she returned to pumping along the shaft. Anya clearly approved of her efforts, if the rapid-fire  _ Trigedasleng  _ curses falling from her lips were any indication, as well as the way her hips pushed forward in time with Raven’s movements, or the harsh pants searing the air between them.

She could feel heat gathering in the pit of her stomach with every minute shift of Anya’s thigh, and the quickening of the alpha’s breathing told her that the Grounder was feeling the same way. The streams that pulsed from the alpha’s cock had become more like rivers, and she was certain that she was releasing a river of her own everywhere she rubbed against Anya’s skin. She found herself pushing forward in search of more friction, more closeness, more  _ Anya, _ and if the alpha’s gasp was anything to go by, the gesture was greatly appreciated. Anya’s hands gripped Raven’s hips even tighter, pulling the mechanic flush against her frame—closer, perhaps, than Raven had realized.

_ Oh god. _

Desire lanced through Raven’s body at the first brush of Anya’s cock against her soaked slit. She wasn’t sure how it had gotten so close, but the feeling was incredible. The hot, throbbing shaft glided through her own wetness, rubbing perfectly against her swollen lips and aching clit. At the first long stroke, Anya let out a loud moan, and Raven felt herself grow even wetter. All of a sudden, she could think of nothing more than how much she wanted to hear Anya make that sound again, and to be the cause of it.

Raven abandoned her grip on Anya’s length in favor of one against her shoulders, and used it to establish a slow, firm grind. Anya felt incredible gliding through the wetness between her legs, bumping up against all of her most sensitive places, and Anya’s hissed approval only made the flow of slickness increase. While at first she was content to simply allow Raven to set the pace, eventually Anya asserted her own subtle form of control: the next time she neared the base of the Grounder’s shaft, Anya tugged on her hips gently but firmly, bringing the hard, throbbing bud of her clit into contact with the alpha’s slowly swelling knot.

Raven couldn’t help peering down at this point, finding herself both awestruck and terrified at the size of it.  _ Holy shit, that’s big… No way is it gonna fit inside me. Not if it’s already inflated, anyway.  _ Even so, the thought made her body sear with sudden heat. She was imagining about taking Anya inside of her, was thinking about how the alpha’s cock would feel stretching her open, filling her deepest places… She couldn’t hold back a whine of her own at the thought.

_ Fuck, she feels so good…but I bet she’d feel even better inside me. _

As Raven leaned back again for another pass, she felt the tip of Anya’s cock press against her entrance, catch there…and then slide past. She let out an agonized groan, torn between how good what they were doing felt, and wanting more. If they kept this up, she was certain that she could come—was embarrassingly close, actually, even though she didn’t particularly want to admit it—but right now, it seemed, she had a choice. They could continue what they were doing to its incredibly pleasurable conclusion…or they could go further, and see where their bodies and hearts took them.

Before she could get too intimidated by the prospect, Raven’s body made the decision for her. The next time the head of Anya’s cock brushed her opening, her hips shuddered…and all of a sudden she felt herself spreading open for the alpha. The stretch made her suck in a quick breath, but all of the conflicting needs and desires warring in her mind seemed to have crystallized around the sensation. She was being stretched to the limit—and she needed more.

Belatedly, Raven realized that she was voicing that desire. “More, Anya,” she found herself gasping. “Don’t stop, not now. Please, keep going…”

Anya merely groaned. Her hips gave a forward jolt, one that sent shudders rippling through Raven's entire body. "Are you sure?" she panted, but Raven was so enraptured by the rivulet of sweat rolling down from Anya's temple that she scarcely heard the words. She had doubted earlier that she’d be able to take the alpha’s knot, but now she was certain: this wasn’t just any knot, just any alpha. This was  _ Anya,  _ and for her, Raven could do anything. When she realized the alpha was waiting for a response, she gave one that couldn't be misinterpreted—she gripped the firm muscles of Anya's ass and pulled her closer still, taking her mouth in another deep kiss. 

There was a flash of pain and pressure, but it barely lasted a moment. Raven let out a short cry, biting down on Anya's bottom lip, and then it was over. The incredible fullness made it difficult to breathe, but she had forgotten why she needed to anyway. Instead, she sucked on Anya's warm tongue, adjusting both physically and mentally to the fact that Anya was  _ inside _ her. All the way in. She hadn't meant for them to go this far during their first time, but she didn't regret it for a second. Some part of her had needed this.

Gradually, she became accustomed to the sensation. Her pulse calmed down, her panting whines came less often, and her vision stopped blurring at the edges. She smiled at Anya, and Anya grinned back, looking just as awed as she felt. Raven wasn't sure whose hips started rocking first, but it didn't matter. They found a matching rhythm right away, and soon, she was clawing at Anya's firm backside, head tilted back as the tip of the alpha's shaft battered a sensitive spot deep inside her and the swell of Anya's knot rubbed against her clenching inner walls.

"Fuck," she hissed. Her heart flew up into her throat, pounding right at the crook of her neck. She wanted Anya to bite her, to taste her. She wanted to sink her teeth into the warm, salty flesh of Anya's throat as well, deep enough to taste copper. But that would be stupid. She knew she wasn't ready for that kind of commitment, especially not with her leg the way it was.

Reluctantly, she pushed the urge aside, focusing on the rest of the sensations coursing through her body. There were plenty to choose from. Anya's hot mouth was roaming down the slope of her chest to suck at the stiff peak of her nipple, Anya's nails were raking parallel paths along her stomach to dip between her legs, and Anya's cock... Each thrust was harder, deeper, better than the one before. Raven hadn't known it was possible to get so much leverage during a tie, but Anya was doing things to her body she hadn't even imagined.

_ "Reivon," _ Anya grunted, and Raven watched in awe as a crease of strain and worry appeared above her glassy eyes.

She thought she knew what it meant, and she tried to offer reassurance. It wasn't easy in her foggy state, but she managed. "Don't worry. You're good." She squeezed Anya's ass again, locking her good knee around the alpha's hip to keep her firmly in place. It wasn't necessary with Anya's knot blocking her entrance, but it made her feel like she had a bit more control over the situation.

"But—"

"I’m on suppressants," Raven said. She let go of Anya's backside and grabbed one of her lover's hands, which had drifted toward her hip. Once their fingers were laced together, she dragged them down to her clit, urging Anya to start rubbing again. "Stop worrying and make me come. Make us both come."

In lieu of an answer, Anya leaned forward again, taking her lips in a rough kiss. The hand between her legs resumed its clever explorations, finding places that made Raven see stars, and the other took a firmer hold of her hip, getting the leverage to pump harder. Every short, powerful thrust punched a gasp out of Raven’s lungs, which was eagerly swallowed by the Anya’s eagerly devouring mouth. Raven hadn’t truly understood the sensation of being taken, of being  _ claimed,  _ until now.

As a rule, she ordinarily kept her lovers at a distance, except for Finn; she had never allowed an alpha to knot her before. But all of her carefully constructed rules for protecting her heart seemed to have become utterly meaningless in the face of what Anya was making her feel. She was swiftly spiraling towards the most powerful orgasm of her life, but instead of making her feel out of control, like she was free-floating in space without a tether, Anya seemed to be her ground, her guide, gravity catching hold of her and pulling her gently but inexorably into its embrace.

She opened her mouth, maybe to attempt to express some of what she was feeling, however clumsily, but all of a sudden Anya sagged against her, panting harshly against her neck. The movement of her hips didn’t falter, but the rhythm stuttered, and a second later Raven understood why. The heavy knot was twitching inside of her, preparing to spill Anya’s release—and  _ fuck,  _ she had never wanted anything more than to feel the Grounder come inside of her.

“Do it,” she hissed against the droplets of sweat pouring down Anya’s neck. “Come on. Give me everything you’ve got.”

To her shock and fury, however, the warrior shook her head. “Not until you… Are you close? Because I will stop if you are not, and you can tell me what you need…”

Raven could have screamed in affectionate agony. Were all Grounders this stupidly noble? “Anya, I’ve been on the edge since  _ before  _ you started fucking me, and if you stop now I swear to god I’ll kill you, tie or no tie,” she growled, raking her nails down the alpha’s back. “Now  _ move.” _

A moment later, however, words were impossible. Anya had abandoned her aching clit to lift her hips with both hands, tilting them both so that the alpha’s cock could hit her even  _ deeper,  _ somehow. Anya’s knot was suddenly rubbing against the absolute  _ perfect  _ spot, the swollen place along her front wall that seemed to pulse with its own heartbeat. It only took a few more hard pumps before Raven was screaming, swearing, grabbing at Anya anywhere and everywhere she could reach. Her inner walls fluttered wildly around the knot and shaft buried deep within her, desperate to draw out the release she could feel pounding within them. If only she could feel Anya coming with her, could know that the alpha had reached the same heights of ecstasy that she had…

She got her wish. Within seconds of Raven’s own release, Anya’s entire body shuddered heavily against hers and then she was coming, jet after jet of hot fluid pouring into Raven’s clinging channel. The beta moaned to feel it filling her, clamping down even harder around Anya’s cock as it twitched and pulsed. Through the haze of her own orgasm, she couldn’t quite believe she was thinking it, but Anya coming inside of her was hands-down one of the best sensations she’d ever experienced. And it never seemed to  _ stop _ , either—the spurts were endless, each one more powerful than the next, and all she could do was surrender herself to the feeling of the alpha emptying herself within her. But there was nowhere else she’d rather be.

Anya groaned long and loud as she came, and that, combined with the heavy pulses filling Raven’s deepest places, served to extend her own release well beyond what it had ever been. She could easily imagine the smug look that would greet her if she told Anya that, but to be honest, she’d come like a fucking  _ freight train,  _ and the alpha deserved to be a little smug.  _ Especially if it’ll inspire her to do it again… _

But before she could come to a complete decision, she heard a pounding at the door, and a familiar voice shouted, “Hey Raven, open up!”

Ice filled her veins, replacing the warmth she’d been enjoying.  _ Oh shit, what does Griffin want? God I’m glad I locked the door. I mean, Anya locked the door. She did, right? She must’ve... _

“Come  _ on,  _ Raven, this is important! What are you doing in there, masturba—oh.”

Raven squeezed her eyes shut, as though if she didn’t  _ see  _ Clarke barging into her workshop, her own Grounder alpha hot on her heels, then it wouldn’t be happening. But oh no, it was definitely happening, Clarke was definitely here and so was Lexa. The Commander’s eyes were practically the size of dinner plates as they took in her mentor’s back and bare ass. When they flicked over Anya’s shoulder to meet Raven’s, however, she dropped her head to Anya’s shoulder with a groan of utter defeat.

_ “Reivon.”  _ Anya’s voice, still slightly breathless but strained with embarrassment, not orgasm. Raven couldn’t muster more than a strangled groan in response.  _ “Klark  _ and  _ Leksa  _ are behind me, are they not?”

Raven nodded, still not trusting herself to speak. Anya sounded as though each word forced from her mouth was pure and exquisite torture.

“Ah, I see. Well, then… Perhaps you could convince them to leave and come back when we are not…tied?”

Raven felt her entire body flush crimson at the word, but her cursory examination of Clarke and Lexa when she dared to lift her head for a moment revealed that neither of them looked much better. Clarke appeared to be struggling with whether to laugh or to grimace, and Lexa had gone somewhat green.

“What she said,” Raven forced herself to croak at last, attempting to muster up the burning glare that had served her well in the past when refusing particularly boneheaded demands or ordering blockheaded alphas out of her engine room. Clarke flinched, but held her ground.

“We’ll go, I promise, but we just figured that you and Anya would want to know…”

_ “What,  _ Griffin? Want to know  _ what?  _ What can you possibly have to tell us that couldn’t wait until we’re not—”

But her vitriol failed her, and all she could do was gesture embarrassingly at the place where their bodies were joined. Clarke blushed even deeper, her mouth opening and closing for a couple of seconds, and Raven was sure that  _ finally  _ her friend was going to leave her and Anya to collect the tattered shreds of their dignity in peace, but then Clarke finally burst out, “I’m pregnant, and we want you both to be their godparents!”

Raven’s eyebrows nearly reached her hairline, and when Anya’s head snapped up, she saw that the alpha’s expression closely mirrored her own. “Well, that’s…something,” was all she could muster, but Anya’s composure appeared to have at least partially returned.

“Congratulations are certainly in order, but perhaps they could wait at least a little longer.”

It wasn’t a question. To Raven’s undying amusement, Lexa flushed an even darker shade as she began tugging Clarke out of the room. “Yes, of course,  _ Fos.  _ We will see you when—come,  _ Klark—”  _ And then they were gone, the door slamming shut behind them.

“Well,  _ shit,”  _ Raven muttered, a grin slowly spreading across her lips. “Godparents, huh? That’s pretty incredible.” She shook her head gently as she remembered everything that had led them to that moment, but all she could find to express the feeling swelling in her chest was a simple phrase: “Welcome to Earth.” 


	24. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know you all wanted a little more of Clarke and Lexa. Here it is: offered with all my love.
> 
> \- Rae

When Lexa opened her eyes, she was greeted by a glittering waterfall of gold. Stripes of sunlight streaming in through their bedroom window caught Clarke’s hair, giving the blonde strands an otherworldly glow. They almost looked like the stars she had come from. Lexa smiled, placing a kiss on the back of Clarke’s smooth locks. They were warm and smelled like sleep, but beneath that was the familiar scent of omega, of her mate.

Some mornings, Lexa could scarcely believe they had arrived at this place: a place where she shared her bed and her life with someone else. After Costia, she had been certain she would spend the rest of her life alone. She was Heda, and Heda had no time for love or family. Then Clarke had fallen from the sky and stolen her heart. Clarke had given her the family she had never even dared to dream of.

Lexa sighed as she wrapped her arm around Clarke’s waist, caressing the swell of the omega’s belly. Her mate was several months along now, starting to complain of backaches and swollen feet, but even though she griped about her condition, she had a look of softness about her, a look that almost made it hard for Lexa to believe that this was the same woman who had shot Cage dead to save both their people.

Crashing on this harsh world had not broken Clarke’s spirit. It had only made her fiercer, more passionate, and her courage, Lexa knew, would serve their pups well. She had been trained from birth to be a leader, but Clarke simply  _ was _ one—omega or not. It was in her blood, the instinct to protect, to defend.

“You have the bravest mother in all the Thirteen Clans,” Lexa murmured, propping herself up on one elbow so she could better see Clarke’s round belly. Clarke had kicked most of their fur blankets off during the night, and the morning light painted a healthy rose tinge across her naked skin. “It’s thanks to her that you will be born into this beautiful world… a safe world with no Mountain Men to steal you away.”

She remained quiet for a while, content to run her fingertips over Clarke’s stomach. Occasionally, she felt soft tapping in response, and even though she knew their pups couldn’t understand, part of her hoped they could hear her voice, at least. There was so much she wanted to tell them, so many things she wanted to share…

“Shh,” she told them, stroking soft circles over Clarke’s belly against the light flurry of kicks. “I wish you were here too. But it’s not time yet, and your mother needs sleep.”

Lexa checked Clarke’s face, but the omega remained fast asleep. Apparently, she was exhausted enough to sleep through their pups’ kicking and Lexa’s cooing. “Your mother comes from the stars, you know,” she told them, scooting down on the bed so she could whisper closer to Clarke’s stomach. She placed a soft kiss on Clarke’s bare skin, just above the generous curve of her hip. Clarke’s body had softened even further with her pregnancy, and Lexa thought she had never looked more beautiful.

“I know. I didn’t believe it at first either. Soaring higher than the moon in great metal ships, where there isn’t even any air to breathe? It sounded unbelievable. I thought she had come here to murder us all, and I was certain I would have to kill her first. But instead, the Mountain Men’s acid fog trapped us. We had to run for our lives. And then…”

Lexa felt a slight tingle as she remembered exactly  _ how _ she and Clarke had started their relationship. Unintentional though it had been, mating with Clarke had felt so incredibly right, almost predestined. She hadn’t loved Clarke then, not the way she did now with the passage of time and the blossoming of trust, but she had been in awe of her—of the way she led her people, of the ferocious way she defended them. From the moment they had first met, Lexa had known this omega was special.

“Even though we became mates by accident, we are  _ so  _ glad to have you. You will be born into so much love,  _ yongon.  _ Your mother loved you so much that she brought down the Mountain that had haunted us for generations, just to make the world safer for you when you arrived. They call her  _ Wanheda  _ now, because she conquered the death that fed on us for so long. But I’ll tell you why she did it. She conquered death to bring you life.”

“You have quite the way with words.”

Lexa looked up in surprise. Clarke’s blue eyes were open and she wore a sleepy smirk. Lexa cleared her throat, her face heating up. “I want them to grow accustomed to the sound of my voice. That’s all.”

“You were bragging about me,” Clarke laughed, reaching down to stroke her hair.

The affectionate touch made Lexa forget her embarrassment, She leaned in, allowing Clarke to pet her before shifting back up to her previous position behind Clarke’s rear. She planted a kiss on Clarke’s shoulder, taking a moment to inhale her scent. “Should I not? I am proud to have you as my mate,  _ Klark. _ I would shout it to all thirteen Clans if you would let me.”

“Yes, I know. I’m  _ Wanheda  _ now.” She brought her hand up, wiping the back across her mouth. “The Commander of Death who drools on her pillow and can barely roll out of bed in the mornings.”

“You are beautiful no matter what, and there is no need for you to leave bed yet.”

“Really?” Clarke glanced back at her, eyes alight with a familiar flame, a flame that flared to life in Lexa’s core as well. She recognized Clarke’s tone immediately—her services were clearly required. She slid her fingers down from Clarke’s belly to cup between her omega’s legs, gasping slightly at the slickness she found there. It wasn’t unusual for Clarke to wake up greedy for her touch, and her inner thighs were already coated with wetness.

“No,” Clarke groaned, even as she rocked her hips forward and spread her legs open, pushing her clit deliberately against the tips of Lexa’s circling fingers. Lexa paused, confused, until Clarke clarified. “I want something more… substantial.”

It was Lexa’s turn to smirk. She could most certainly fulfill that request. Her first instinct was to roll on top of Clarke, but stopped herself when she remembered the size of her mate’s belly. Unfortunately, it would be a while before they could enjoy that position again. Instead, she rolled onto her back, running her hands back down along Clarke’s thighs to pull her on top.

Clarke straddled her eagerly, as if she hadn’t been fast asleep just a few minutes ago. When the omega leaned down with her lips parted, Lexa welcomed her kiss. The taste of Clarke’s mouth, even this early in the morning, sent a sharp throb straight between her legs. She groaned, feeling her clit begin to swell as Clarke sucked at her bottom lip.

In a matter of moments, her shaft had taken shape, growing enough for Clarke to wrap a fist around it and stroke her to hardness. _“This_ is what I need,” Clarke muttered into her mouth, placing hard kisses against it between each word. Lexa’s muscles bunched. It was an effort not to pump herself into Clarke’s hand, or better yet, thrust up into the heat she could feel between Clarke’s legs. Her alpha instincts urged her to rut, to claim, but she knew she needed to stay gentle. Clarke’s body wasn’t in its usual condition.

“If you’re certain,” Lexa panted instead, soothing herself by cupping two firm handfuls of Clarke’s rear. At the very least, it gave her something to hold onto.

Clarke grinned down at her, blonde hair falling everywhere, her smile a blinding crescent moon. “Lexa, if I don’t get you in me right now, I’ll go crazy. I  _ need _ you.”

_ I need you. _ Lexa knew those words were true—she could smell it in Clarke’s scent, could see it in her eyes, feel it in the fever of her skin—but hearing them still sent shockwaves through her body. This perfect creature, this beautiful omega from another world, needed her and loved her and was carrying her pups. She had no idea how she had gotten so lucky.

Even so, she was determined to make Clarke feel just as lucky. She kissed her way down Clarke’s collarbone, shifting her hips in search of her mate’s warmth. It didn’t take long. Clarke lined her up, and on the first thrust, Lexa felt the head of her cock sink past her mate’s tight entrance.

No matter how many times they did this, Lexa knew she would never become accustomed to this moment—the moment when she pushed inside of Clarke for the first time and the omega’s silky muscles clenched around her, welcoming her in. Clarke’s walls shuddered and pulsed, trying to draw her even deeper and hold her there. Together, the two of them let out a shared sigh of relief.

For the moment, Lexa didn’t feel the urge to rut. She was content simply to rest inside of Clarke, buried to the hilt, wrapped up in her mate’s warmth. Clarke’s soft blue eyes were swimming with love, a love that made Lexa’s heart burst with the same feelings. But then Clarke began squeezing down around her, milking her length with deliberate pulses, and the fullness between her legs took priority again. She growled, grinding her hips up and tightening her grip on Clarke’s rear to keep her in place.

Clarke let out a beautiful moan, one Lexa wanted to hear repeated over and over again. Even though she was on the bottom, she set the rhythm, pushing up into Clarke and withdrawing just enough to drive back in again. She felt Clarke’s front wall swelling against her shaft, but she ignored that special spot, concentrating on hitting Clarke’s deepest places instead. She had learned each and every way to make Clarke come undone, and this was the way she had chosen—making sure Clarke could feel every inch of her, rubbing the head of her cock against the entrance to Clarke’s womb.

“Lexa…” Clarke whimpered, tilting her hips forward. Lexa felt the slippery bud of the omega’s clit rub against her abdomen, twitching faintly. She brought one of her hands around, letting go of Clarke’s ass to take the swollen little shaft between her fingers. She rolled and pinched, stifling a groan of her own as Clarke’s muscles shivered around her.

_ “Niron,” _ Lexa murmured, struggling to hold back the rhythm of her hips. The pressure within her grew with each ripple of Clarke’s walls, but she knew she needed to be gentle. Clarke was carrying precious cargo, and the last thing Lexa wanted to do was hurt her - or them.

Of course, Clarke knew exactly what she was thinking. “Lexa,” she repeated, this time with an edge of exasperation in her voice—along with more than a hint of desperation. “ _ Fuck _ me. Just let go and fuck me.”

Lexa couldn’t ignore her mate’s plea. Clarke’s scent was calling to her and Clarke’s body was begging for her. She surged up, using the muscles in her core to pull herself into a sitting position and keeping her arms wrapped firmly around her mate. She moved both hands to Clarke’s hips, urging her to rise and fall, and Clarke submitted to her rhythm with a broken whine.

The sight of Clarke’s breasts swaying so close to her face was yet another temptation. Lexa took one of the stiff pink peaks between her lips, sucking it deep into her mouth and swirling her tongue over it. Clarke’s whine became a shout, and her entire body seized up, shuddering wildly.

Although she was surprised by the intensity of the reaction, Lexa didn’t stop what she was doing. She kept moving Clarke on her lap, kept sucking the omega’s sensitive nipple, until a sudden surge of warmth spilled out around the base of her cock and ran between their bodies. She tugged the very tip of Clarke’s breast with her teeth, rumbling in satisfaction. There was nothing more beautiful, more perfect, than making her omega come for her.

Clarke’s orgasm took a while to fade. She kept rocking in Lexa’s lap, trembling and panting, until her tight, rhythmic shivers became weak, fluttering aftershocks. By the time she slumped over, resting her sweaty forehead against Lexa’s shoulder, it was all Lexa could do to keep still and let her recover. The base of her shaft had started to throb with unbearable pressure, and she knew what was coming next. Either she needed to pull out and come somewhere else, or she and Clarke would be stuck like this for several more minutes at least.

“Stay,” Clarke muttered, picking up on her thoughts for a second time. “Please, stay inside me…”

_ “Otaim,”  _ Lexa promised.

After a few more gasping breaths, Clarke seemed to catch her second wind. She shifted her hips again, back and forth instead of up and down, and Lexa grunted as the ache within her doubled. Her knot swelled rapidly, stretching Clarke’s walls and filling her entrance, but her mate didn’t seem to mind the stretch. In fact, she relished it, taking Lexa’s lips in another tangled kiss and fisting her hair.

Lexa couldn’t last long under such an assault. When Clarke sucked her tongue, nails lighting up her scalp and raking down along the back of her neck, she became overwhelmed. Even though Clarke was already swollen with her pups, she still felt the powerful, primal urge to fill the omega, to claim her mate. She rutted up into Clarke one last time, tensing as the fullness inside her finally burst free.

She came in sharp bursts, hips quivering as she emptied herself. Clarke’s muscles rippled with each spurt, squeezing even tighter around her knot, drawing more throbbing pressure up through her length. On instinct, Lexa tore away from Clarke’s mouth, sinking her teeth into the omega’s shoulder instead. She fitted them right over the white scar of Clarke’s mating mark— _ her _ mark—and sucked until the skin around it was bruised a light purple.

Clarke seemed to take that as an invitation. She found her own mark, nipping hard at Lexa’s shoulder and holding on as her body started to tremble again. Lexa groaned around her own hold, several more thick streams spilling from her shaft to splash against Clarke’s clutching walls. She was Clarke’s as much as Clarke was hers. Their bodies and their hearts couldn’t have been a more perfect fit.

It took a long time for their shared peak to finish. Clarke’s greedy muscles milked her cock until Lexa was certain she had nothing left to give, but somehow, the omega always managed to make her spill more. Even after she was empty, she continued twitching within Clarke’s heat, pulsing long after her orgasm ended.

Only then did she finally release Clarke’s shoulder and say the words that had been running through her head the entire time.  _ “Ai hod yu in, Klark.” _

Even though she said those words every day, several times a day, Clarke’s smile was still just as happy and bewildered as it had been the very first time. Just as Lexa couldn’t believe her luck, that an omega like Clarke had chosen her, she knew her mate felt the same way. She wasn’t alone in her helplessness.

_ “Ai hod yu in, Leksa.” _

“Do you remember the first time I said that to you?” Lexa chuckled. She placed a soft kiss on Clarke’s collarbone, just beneath the bruised mating mark.

“I asked you what it meant,” Clarke whispered.

“And I wouldn’t tell you at first…” Lexa swallowed, brushing away stray lock of hair that was clinging to Clarke’s pink cheek. “But I felt it so strongly, even then. Even though we had only just bonded. Even though I was certain I would die.”

“But you didn’t,” Clarke said, cupping her face and running a thumb across Lexa’s cheekbone. “You didn’t die.”

“Because of you,  _ niron. _ That’s what I was trying to tell our pups. They couldn’t be luckier, because I know you’ll fight for them just as hard as you fought for me.”

Clarke took Lexa’s hand, drawing their joined fingers down toward her stomach. “We don’t need to fight anymore. Because of  _ you, _ the Thirteen Clans have peace now.”

Lexa sighed. She knew there was no winning this argument. Clarke was as stubborn as she was beautiful. “Because of both of us,” she stated as a compromise.

“Okay.” Clarke ducked her head, speaking to her stomach. “Did you hear that? Your parents actually agreed on something. Isn’t it amazing?”

Lexa snorted, resting her chin on Clarke’s shoulder and sighing happily. Clarke might have come from the stars, but right now, she couldn’t think of anywhere else in the whole sky that she would rather be than right here, in the bed the two of them shared.


End file.
